Review: Sideways

Sideways by Rex Pickett chronicles a week-long vacation of two friends, Miles and Jack, filled with wine tastings, adventure, and women. Jack is getting married at the end of the week and wants to have one last hurrah with his best friend and best man Miles.

Miles is the narrator of the novel, a recently divorced aspiring writer. He is a unique character damaged by the divorce and the many rejections from publishers. He has his extreme ups and downs throughout the novel.

Pickett is very knowledgeable about wine and the novel focuses on that knowledge with the detailed descriptions and expertise of each tasting.

As a 20-year-old, I wasn't the target audience for this novel. As I read I was occasionally bored by the wine descriptions and the antics of older men, but I enjoyed the novel nonetheless. It was funny and exciting and at times even a little bit suspenseful. The relationships are interesting and the dialogue honest.

I have read that the movie that was made from this novel is better than novel itself. I haven't seen the movie yet, but the chemistry between the actors supposedly adds more to the movie than Pickett can put on paper.

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