By the time I had finished with this book, I felt like I'd just survived an exhausting slog. Maybe it's not the book's fault. I was bored by Moby Dick too. Jay's trying to MacGyver his way out of a whale for the whole story, and reconcile his relationship with his dead dad. The book is heavy with philosophy and allegory and light on the plot. I will give it some credit: it was sufficiently gross.