Michael Cunningham's "By Nightfall"

Did you read “By Nightfall?” I’ve just finished it and am thinking about it and would be interested in knowing what other people thought about it. At first i thought it was pretentious. Then I thought it was wonderful. Then I thought it was appalling. Then I thought it was kind of wonderful. Then...

There is much here that I love to see in a book--flawed human characters with at least a minimal amount of self-knowledge, serious thinking about art and its creation--and much that I dislike--coy references to the tragically hip, plotting that sometimes feels driven more by what the author needed to have happen than what the characters might have done.

And yet....and yet....I think I liked it, I really liked it. You...?