“Extraordinary Adventures” by Daniel Wallace

I would like to thank BookBrowse and St. Martin’s Press for the Advanced Reading Edition of “Extraordinary Adventures” by Daniel Wallace. The genres of this book are fiction, humor and satire.

I find that the author introduces us to some intriguing, quirky, and complicated characters.

The main character, Edsel Bronfman can be described as a predictable, boring, unimaginative and appears to have an uneventful life. Edsel’s job and his mother seem to be the constant factor in his life.

One day, Edsel gets a call from a company called “Extraordinary Adventures”, and the operator tells him he has won a weekend by the beach in Florida. The only strings attached is he has to sit for a speech on condo opportunities and he must bring a companion. Now Edsel is in a pickle. He really has no friends, or girlfriends.

Edsel’s mother is quite a “firecracker”, and highly spirited.

Some complications appear in Edsel’s life. His mother seems to be getting dementia, making her unpredictable.

Edsel hires help for his mother and is determined that somehow, someway he will find a companion to take on his free vacation.

Edsel  does go on some interesting adventures.

At times I found myself feeling sorry for Edsel, or frustrated that he seemed like an “afterthought”. As Edsel gets more confidence, he has more hope and is optimistic. He feels anything can happen. There are positive and negative things that occur.

Daniel Wallace uses subtle satire and humor through his descriptions, and I find that I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it. Does Edsel get to Florida? You will have to read this to find out!!