Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Good! I struggled while deciding between the 4 and 5-star ratings. The main protagonist is sympathetic, but not initially likable. Still, his adventures were entertaining enough. And he grew on me.
I preferred the stories from the past to the stories of now, even though some of them were quite unrealistic. I'm a little surprised that I wasn't off-put by the juxtaposition of the foolish unreality and the very serious real event that is the focus of the rest of the book, but somehow Foer pulled it off. Maybe it was how charming I found the first diversion.

Near the end, I was eager to find out the answer to the big mystery, and there were a couple of interesting twists and unexpected connections as we finished up.