The Unloved by John Saul [Digital Adio Download ed.]

SPOILERS

The Unloved by John Saul tells the story of Kevin Deveraux and his family -- wife Anne, daughter Julie, and son Jeff. Kevin's much hated, widowed mother is dying and Kevin is summoned home by his sister, Marguerete, a ballet dancer whose dreams were cut short when her hip was broken in an accident. Helene, the mother, is controlling, demanding, and cruel. She bullies Marguerete and is infuriated that she herself only holds the family lands in trust (introducing a plot hole). When she finally dies, her will forces Kevin to stay on so that the disinherited Marguerete can remain at home. The estate lawyer assures Kevin that there is no way around the will, leaving the reader/listener to wonder who the real estate was being held in trust for, if not Kevin, and why the lawyer was apparently unaware of the trust. At any rate, the sweet and meek Marguerete moves into her mother's old rooms and promptly goes all Norman Bates, assuming the personality of her mother, lightly flavored with her own natural insanity. Anne dies when her car is swept into the sea, followed rapidly by several less natural deaths. The kids are eventually saved, but not before nearly everyone around them is murdered by Marguerete.

This is definitely a kids-in-jeopardy story, and just as definitely not a kids-save-the-world one. Julie and Jeff are able to help themselves to a limited extent, but must rely on the adults around them to save them. The murders are described, so there is violence and some gore, but it is not excessive. There is little in the way of the supernatural. Kevin has a premonitory dream, and there are hints that Marguerete is possessed in some way, though not enough to rule out her simply being crazy.

The book is well read by Sandra Burr. The characters have distinct voices with appropriate accents. The pacing and inflection are good.

Recommend to fans of V.C. Andrews for the endangered children, wicked grandmother, Southern setting, and "You have an inheritance you never knew about! Come collect your misery now!" setup.
It's a possible read-alike for Psycho by Robert Bloch. The setup takes much longer, but Psycho fans will likely find post 'round the bend Marguerete worth the wait.
It wouldn't be my first choice for Stephen King fans, though it might appeal to those who are jaded with that author's unnaturally competent kids, and who are willing to trade supernatural evil for the human variety.

Perfect Imperfectionism

I read Tom Rachman's debut novel, The Imperfectionists, after reading an effervescent review in the New York Times Book Review. As promised, the novel is absolutely gorgeous. All of the stock descriptions work for this book: humorous, heartbreaking, honest, compassionate, original -- I could continue but don't want to make it sound too trite. The novel, set mostly in Rome, narrates the lives of several individuals working for a historically proud but swiftly deteriorating English-language newspaper. Each character is given his or her own chapter, in which imperfect choices and behaviors are dramatically illustrated, and then, after their brief time in the limelight, they recede into bit parts where we witness them flitting to and fro in the background of the chapters like phantoms. The chapters are both disparate and unified, much like the web of employees at the paper, and I came away with an illumined perspective on the tragedy of the human condition: that we can work with one another daily, at a job in Rome or in Spokane, and, despite our assumptions, never truly know or understand the infinite experiences of our colleagues. What a beautiful book. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a commanding literary read. Would also be an excellent choice for a book club.

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

The short story is a different animal than the novel, and Joe Hill does a good job with the form in his collection, 20th Century Ghosts. The stories are self-contained, and the characters developed enough for the plot. Not all of the stories, such as the slice-of-life Better than Home, are traditional horror. Others -- Best New Horror with its Twilight Zone twist, and 20th Century Ghost about a haunted movie house -- fit more closely with the genre. Recommended for fans of Shirley Jackson's short stories.

Where's the love?

Love in Infant Monkeys was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. This Friday evening at Auntie's Book Store, Lydia Millet will be reading from this hilarious and tragic story collection based on animals and their direct or indirect influence on celebrities (starring, as fictional characters: Madonna, Noam Chomsky, Sharon Stone, Thomas Edison). The reading is FREE. Definitely recommended. 7 PM.

Awesome Literary Collections of 2009

This last year was rife with beautifully written short story collections, perfect for the adult reader that longs for something literary. Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order:

The Thing Around Your Neck, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

These stories detail the Nigerian woman’s experience, whether she is living, somewhat forlornly and guiltily, in North America, or dealing with change and suffering in the country of her origin. One of my favorite reads this last year.

Pieces for the Left Hand, by J. Robert Lennon

Lennon’s quixotic collection finally found a home here in the United States, this time at the impressive independent, Graywolf Press (Pieces was previously only published in the U.K.). These stories – normally no longer than a page each – are beautiful, menacing and crushingly intelligent. The writing, line by line, is expertly wrought. Fans of his might also enjoy his novel, Castle, which also came out in 2009.

Nothing Right, by Antonya Nelson

Nelson’s stories frequent such venerable magazines as The New Yorker, and for good reason. The relationships in this collection are convoluted – painful but loving – such as in “Party of One”, where a woman, Emily, seeks to protect her sister from a painful breakup, despite knowing that her sister previously slept with Emily’s own husband. Nelson manages to write realism without sacrificing hilarity and interest. A great read for anyone who might be fans of Lorrie Moore or Alice Munro.

Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing: Stories, by Lydia Peele

Peelle writes most of these stories from a masculine perspective, something I would normally find disingenuous, but she does so masterfully, and the result is a collection that is as sharp and addictive as Richard Ford's Rock Springs. Having never been to the south, I kept interchanging the scenery with that of the Northwest -- so much of the collection is fixated on the outdoors, on the strange flightly disconnect between man and nature, and for one story in particular, revolving around a ghostlike mountain lion, I perfectly envisioned the forests of Northern Idaho. Barely any moments exist indoors -- and yet the stories are still so internal to the characters. Fantastic.

Too Much Happiness, by Alice Munro

Munro is a master storyteller, arguably the best living writer in North America. These stories begin with the domestic and arc into sheer drama. In the first story, a bereft woman reconnects with the mentally-disturbed husband that murdered their children. In another, a college student is urged by her roommate to dine with the roommate’s estranged wealthy lover, resulting in a bizarrely refined evening of humiliation. What I love about Munro is her ability to carve such universal human emotions into her characters – despite the strange circumstances – making them seem so alive. Reading her work – which is ultimately so compassionate, so generous – is always cathartic, always life-changing – exactly what great literature should be.

There Once Was a Woman Who Tried to Kill her Neighbor’s Baby: Fairy Tales, by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

This renowned Russian writer serves up a collection as dark and eyebrow-raising as its title suggests. I ordered this book after reading "Hygiene" in Harper’s Magazine, a story in which a plague descends upon a village and a family gruesomely turns against one another to avoid getting sick. The stories are not necessarily deep or moving, but they are speedy, comic and creepy. Of course, this is not a collection for the weak-hearted. Macomber fans would not be pleased, but Stephen King fans might be…

Where the Money Went, by Kevin Canty

If you’ve got a manly literary type roaming the stacks – especially someone who enjoys James Crumley, Jim Harrison, Richard Hugo or any of the fly-fishing, Montana-outdoorsy set – tell them about Kevin Canty. His novels are great, but where he really masters his craft are his short stories. Also, I’m a sucker for any book with a mermaid on the cover.

Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, by Maile Meloy

To put it alliteratively, Meloy’s writing is melodic. In clean, serene sentences, she unfolds the petals of her characters’ desires. A young girl longs to grow up, almost managing to do so in one evening with a lusty business associate of her father’s. A lonely rancher’s desire for a law student leads to a frantic drive across wintry Montana. With stories this diverse and moving, it’s no wonder that Meloy’s collection was selected as one of the Top 10 Books of 2010 by The New York Times. For music fans, you might be interested to know that her brother, Colin, founded the band The Decemberists.

Happy reading!

Barbarians at the Gates of the Public Library by Ed D'Angelo

I finished this book last week. I posted my review on my blog. For anyone interested in democracy and how it pertains to the public library, this is a great, short read. Lots of big ideas. Here's the link.