I can see why this book is not as well-known or widely-read as Gatsby. While both feature protagonists who are nontraditional and at times hard to like, Dick just is not as strong a character as Jay Gatsby. While Gatsby's decisions and outlooks can make you cringe at times and make him hard to sympathize with, none of his decisions are as bad as Dick. While I was onboard with Dick for the first part of the book, once the details of his relationship with Nicole were revealed, I just couldn't get over it and find any way to care about him again.

It also felt like while the first part of the book had a good deal of plot, once we got into the second and third parts, it just wasn't as interesting. I think Rosemary was one of the most interesting characters, and I'm sorry that the book mostly followed Dick rather than her.