This was a mediocre book from the start, but the last chapter was really awful. So much of the book was just trite, and for something that tries to make a big deal about metaphor and simile and rhetoric, the writing was shockingly bad. It was also consistently condescending, explaining all kinds of French phrases and places as though the reader were some kind of schoolkid on a trip with really annoying parents who cannot bear to miss a "teachable moment".

I read this book a couple of years ago and absolutely LOVED it. Although supposedly a children's book, I was entranced and transported by the lovely wonder of the metaphor of windows and mirrors. I have always read and appreciated immensely Gopnik's essays in the New Yorker, and reading him at full-length is a real treat. This is definitely a book you could read aloud to your kids, or savor on your own as you step into a new kind of fairy-tale world.

My shelves actually tell a minor falsehood: I never finished this book. It was THAT BAD. It's very infrequent that I don't finish a book, but this one I truly couldn't stomach and had to drop it after the first hundred pages. I thought it would be great because it takes place in France and the blurb made it sound wonderful, but it was the exact opposite. I would never recommend this book to anyone.

To be fair my rating is somewhat void because I couldn't make it past the first few chapters. I was so confused as to what was going on and why I couldn't really get into it. I had a lot of, "Wait...what?" moments.

Oliver Parker is a 12-yr-old American boy living in Paris (his father is an overseas journalist). Oliver’s life is rather drab: his father works all the time, he doesn’t have a lot of friends, he finds French school difficult, etc. One night, after a celebration of the Epiphany, Oliver dons a paper crown and glances into a window when he sees the image of a young boy inside the window that is not a reflection of himself. Oliver begins communicating with this boy who calls Oliver the “King in the Window.” Oliver assumes the mantle of King in the Window and learns more about those beings that live inside windows (window wraiths) who are waiting for the King in the Window to lead them in victory against the Master of Mirrors. The book follows Oliver’s journey into kinghood and in his quest to defeat the Master of Mirrors before he takes over the world. This children’s novel has some cleverness in it, especially in its framing of images in windows vs images in mirrors and the kinds of worlds that live within them. There’s also an interesting connection to Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland. But overall, I found the book rather blah. Part of it is a personal: I found Gopnik’s inclusion of many French landmarks and places to be pretentious and caused me to sigh often. I get it, Gopnik, you love France and you wrote this while in France. But the larger reason is I don’t know who this book is targeted at. If for adults, it’s not clever enough. If it’s for teens, it’s too boring for a generation raised on Harry Potter. But it’s too complex for younger than teens. If you’re looking for a YA modern fairy tale, I’d recommend Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories (which I re-read this year), which is a far better young adult fairy tale that even adults would enjoy.

Overlong and some of the weird bits had to have been inside jokes. Like, why does his friend wear a San Jose Sharks jacket? That seems awfully... specific. I think the book would have been more successful if he'd cut out all the flippant stuff from Charlie and made it more of a dreamy timeless story. Or else taken out all the stuff with Moliere et al, shortened it drastically and made it a fun fast adventure. As it was, the tone kept shifting.

While I found it thoroughly entertaining, I think a middle reader would get lost or lose interest. It's a fascinating and adventurous story, but has so many tangents that it gets confusing. Much of my enjoyment came from Gopnik's references to Racine and Moliere and from already having a soft spot for Gopnik's prose. His target audience might not enjoy the allusions as much.

this book is not good
it is boring in the beginning and doesnt get much better

so far, this is really good!

A fun fantasy set in France alternating between present-day and Louis' XIV time.

Because his family lives in Paris, on Epiphany, Oliver gets to wear the golden paper crown, because he found the key (a rather odd key, at that). Though he is old enough to have noticed that his mother always ensures that. And when he sees his reflection, he says, aloud, that he is the King in the Window.

He didn't know what he was getting into. But the people looking for a new King in the Window think why not? They haven't had much luck in getting a good one, and Oliver was no worse than another random selection.

A story ensues. It involves mirrors, crystals, windows, wraiths, the wittiest woman Oliver's father knows, queens, shadow pictures, in-line skating, the One with None (None what? Well, that would be a spoiler.), rhetoric, French history, the inventor of mayonnaise, a neighbor named Neige, and perfect mirrors.

Love it! That's all I have to say.