Product Description
Everything is going pretty well for Dave Raymond. He's 31, but he still feels young. He's playing guitar with the Wishbones, a New Jersey wedding band, and while it isn't exactly the Big Time, it is music. He has a roof over his head...well, it's his parents' roof, but they don't hassle him much. Life isn't perfect. But it isn't bad. Not bad at all. But then he has to blow it all by proposing to his girlfriend.
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Amazon.com Review
Tom Perrotta's first novel, The Wishbones, is all about that much-maligned class of 30-ish men who still live at home with their parents, guys who make furtive love to their girlfriends--if they have them at all--in the basement rec room or the back seat of a car. But Dave Raymond, the protagonist of The Wishbones, doesn't waste his time on Star Trek reruns or computer games; he spends his weekends playing in a wedding band called The Wishbones, using the rapidly receding dream of rock stardom as an excuse to put off growing up. The sudden death of a fellow musician sends Dave into something of a tailspin, however, and in a moment of weakness, he proposes to his longtime girlfriend, Julie. The engagement has hardly been announced when Dave meets Gretchen, a bridesmaid at one of the weddings at which The Wishbones play, and before long he's having serious doubts about his own marital plans. Everybody knows someone like Dave, but a real-life puer aeternus is rarely as entertaining as Perrotta's fictional one. Perrotta wisely surrounds his sad-sack protagonist with an array of entertaining supporting characters, from a joint-smoking priest to one of Dave's band-mates whose life work is a musical based on Kennedy's assassination. By the time The Wishbones winds down to its well-deserved end, readers will be wishing for a second novel from Tom Perrotta soon.
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 (three and a half stars) A decent debut ( trainreader61 )
Though not as good as subsequent novels "Little Children" and "Election," Tom Perrotta's first, "The Wishbones," already laid the groundwork as to why he has so many admirers: quirky characters in uncomfortable scenarios narrated in a snappy way. Here, the protaganist (Dave Raymond) is what one might consider a bit of a loser -- at age 31, he still lives with his parents, and although obviously intelligent, hasn't done much with his life. He messengers during the day, plays guitar at night for a wedding band known as "The Wishbones," and hangs out when he can with his on- again-off-again girlfriend of 15 years, Julie. The monkey wrench is thrown, however, when he finally (but still impulsively) proposes to Julie who accepts, and immediately meets Gretchen at a wedding, who's dramatically different than Julie, and whom he thinks he's fallen in love with. What to do?
An interesting story that kept my attention. Two things, though, stretched my belief. First, if Julie is so wonderful and beautiful, there's no way she's staying with someone like Dave for 15 years. Second, there was a scene in which The Wishbones mistakenly find themselves as a houseband for neo-nazis. I think Perrotta was trying too hard here and not staying true to the anally meticulous character "Artie," the manager and sax player of the band, who would never have contracted to be anybody's house band without doing a little research on who the band would be playing for.
In any event, Perrotta is one of the most fun authors around to read, and I'm one who can be included as a fan, even though I think he has yet to write that elusive five star novel (at least the way I rate things).
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 A GOOD READ
THE WISHBONES
Meet The Wishbones, a wedding band. These guys have been together for a long time, playing all sorts of events calling for a live band. The story's main character is Dave, a 31 year old semi-loser -- he still lives with his parents, he has been dating the same girl for 15 years, he has a so-so job as a courier, and works with the band evenings and weekends. He is a guitar-man and he loves his band, The Wishbones.
The author of LITTLE CHILDREN does not disappoint. This is a good book. The characters are very life-like and you will care about them and what happens to them. The dialogue is real and good and the book has plenty of interesting events. Dave's life, along with his fellow band members, is usually a mess and not ever boring.
I truly enjoyed this book. The Wishbones are not only a good band, but a group of close-knit, caring friends. What I really liked about the book was the total unpredictability of the story and the characters. The author keeps you guessing as to what will happen to each character and you are never quite sure how the book will end.
Do yourself a favor and read this book. Mr. Perrotta has a gift!
Thank you!
Pam
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 Rock On ( thomengel )
I loved this book. In fact, I loved it so much I went out and bought four copies of it for my guitar playing friends. The Wishbones never stops satisfying, and almost every page is filled with scenes I had experienced or people I knew somewhere along the line. Perotta writes about "boomer" themes almost as well as Stephen King, though not anywhere near as wordy. He creates very likable and believeable characters; people any hard rockin', guitar swingin' dude born in the USA after WWII would recognize. I started reading this book on a Friday, and I was wrapping it up on Saturday. It is just good fun. The only part I didn't like was the happy, well, almost happy, schmaltzy ending. I gave this book to one of my friends who actually played guitar in a wedding band himself for twenty odd years, and he said it rang with irritating truth.
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 kinda boring and predictable
For Context:I read all the time and am a big fan of Nabokov, Robbins, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Hesse among others.
I was "recommended" this book by Amazon b/c I am a fan of Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore.
My Feedback:This book was pretty slow and not that inventive....kind of a plain story about a wedding band and a guy who didn't want to get married.
Saying that, I did finish it instead of giving up (as i will do if a book is exceptionally crappy)....wouldn't recommend it either way.
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The Wishbones left me wishing for more... ( amr10 )
I am a little bit torn in my rating for the book. For the sheer enjoyment of the read, I give it a five. There is a lot of humor and decent secondary character development, and the writing flows very well.
I think that from a thoroughness perspective, Perrotta only scratches the surface of the conflict and feelings associated with Dave and Gretchen's relationship. I feel that I would have enjoyed this book even more if he had added another 100 to 200 pages to really delve into how it is that Dave can love and care about both Julie (his fiancée) and Gretchen.
I really would have liked Perrotta to explore the turmoil that Dave experienced. Dave as a character isn't your typical jerk who cheats on his girlfriend for one last fling before marriage. I think that he is truly conflicted by his predicament and I would have liked a much deeper analysis. Also he really only touches on Dave's other mistress, his music, and what it will be to have to give up this dream to make Julie happy. Gretchen offers Dave music and happiness and love, but he still can't get his act together in time to choose her over Julie. How is it that in the end, Dave is able to give up so many of his old dreams and choose Julie?
I also would have loved to have gained more of a perspective from Gretchen's point of view. Here she has found the man of her dreams and he is engaged to another woman. No matter how much she loves him and how perfect they could be together, she can't get him to give Julie up. You catch a glimpse at the pain she is experiencing through her poems, even though Dave doesn't get the meaning in them, but I would have like to see Perrotta give us a clearer view of Gretchen's loss, a true exploration of what it is to be the other woman, knowing that you will never have what it is that will make you most happy and fulfilled.
Perrotta only really suggests these inner struggles and heartbreaks, but fails to deliver what could have been a very powerful and thought provoking novel.
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