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I adore this book. It takes a little getting into - the history of lobster fishing off the shores of Maine that begins the novel is necessary to the plot, but a little dry (or perhaps it's that, as yet, we have no idea which characters to hang our hats on). But quickly it becomes one of those books that you cannot put down. The characters are utterly unique - and I think that's one of the things I enjoyed most about the book; that each character was fully formed, with backstory, a pattern of speaking, a method of walking, interacting, living that was so utterly them and no other literary character I've read before. It's clever, extremely funny in places (god, the conversation in the bar about having a prize fight with a chimp . . . GOD) and just a thoroughly satisfying read. Wonderful.