"Girls" reads like a combination of the worst of Hemingway, DeLillo, Richard Ford and Raymond Carver. How many times do we have to read about what Jack fed his dog? Or himself? Sections of this book were so lifeless that I thought I was going dyslexic. The backstory involving Jack and Fanny's daughter was particularly irksome, I mean, how can you care about their daughter's death when it is presented to you in such a cautious(or "literary") way? The subplot concerning the Vice President's visit was also underwritten and ridiculous. I won't even discuss the incredible lame-ness of the cop-out ending. Busch obviously wanted to write a popular page-turner but chickened out. A book only an NPR listener could love.