Masters of Atlantis is supposed to be a spoof on various secret societies in which "other people" participate. The main character, Lamar Jimmerson (an American)is a recently-discharged WWI vet who is swindled by a man who gives him a book, the "Codex Pappus," which is supposed to contain the collective wisdom of Atlantis, and for $200.00, allows him admission to the secret Gnomon society. Although the swindler is never seen again, Jimmerson, with Sydney Hen(an Englishman), starts a American branch of the Gnomon Society in which the swindler becomes a legendary figure, and the Codex Pappus, becomes the society's holy text. While many reviewers thought this book was hilarious,it didn't make me laugh. Its only purpose seemed to be to polk fun at people who Portis perceives to be fools, without offering anything insightful or redeeming about them, and the ease with which he filleted them suggested that the author enjoyed using his knife a little too much. ( )

Quirky novel about believers in cult hidden knowledge coming from ancient Atlantis. Mostly seems like a long shaggy dog story. I am not sure what I expected but not this. My first novel by Portis. I need to read True Grit for sure. ( )

After reading and enjoying "Dog of South," this was disappointing. I appreciate the effort to satirize those goofy men's societies like the Masons--good job on that--but it was just too pathetic a group of characters. ( )

Dreadfully uninteresting, dull, and unremarkable. This was a labor to get through and left me wishing the author did anything interesting or amusing (other than the idiocy of the main characters) with the immense potential of the first few paragraphs. ( )

I really wanted to like this. I love the idea: incidental discovery of an ancient rome of dubious authenticity, leading to an adventure among bumbling fools and a huckster or two.

Here's the problem: it isn't sardonic. It isn't insightful. It doesn't say anything new. There are funny parts (selling the federal government compressed air as a weapon) but there are also pathetic parts (women aren't people, in this book; they are window dressing at best, perhaps more like pretty servants as the natural order of things). It feels much more old fashioned than a novel written in the 80s. And it just isn't saying anything when it could! Perhaps that's the saddest part: it could have done it, and it just...didn't. ( )