I was quite disappointed by The Corrections. While creating the most disgusting characters I've encountered in quite some time -- not one had an endearing quality -- he has so overwritten this essentially sordid situation that I found myself skipping through entire sections and skimming others, which I usually never do. I guess I just kept hoping to find some spark of humanity or some magical turn of phrase that would cause me to care about anyone or anything that happens in this book. I was sick of this ... family early on and it never improved. The subject matter (the so-called dysfunctional family) is not the problem. There are countless other books that have brilliantly captured quirky, malevolent and insane characters: The Confederacy of Dunces and, more recently, Motherless Brooklyn, come to mind as two immediate examples. I do not understand why this wretched book has won so many awards.