Currently reading
Well, I seem to have hit upon a run of excellent books lately - this one I have had for ages and suddenly picked it off my shelves. For a start, I love the cover picture! Another book of American family angst - as much about the children as the parents. In fact the children are written particularly well. The wit of daughter Lyle is a particular highlight. But even she finds it hard to cope with the events told in this story - from a life later looked back on as a kind of paradise to where they end up thanks to their father's bad handling and/or misfortune with money and the terrible accident which occurs to her brother... The action takes place at a fairly leisurely pace (which is a good thing for me) including a few pretty surreal scenes. I must see what else this guy has written - in fact his only other work of fiction is a collection of short stories which pre-date this novel and which were a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice - must try and read those stories sometime.
