Book Review- Garrison Keillor's Love Me

I am a big fan of Garrison Keillor and really wanted to love his novel Love Me, but it was plagued with problems and a difficult book to enjoy.

The main character, Larry Wyler, is a novelist who decides to leave his life (and wife) behind in Minnesota to pursue his dream of working for The New Yorker. Larry is narcissistic, a jerk and impossible to like. He is also the narrator, making the book even more unbearable. At no point in the story did I root for Larry to win at anything, I just wanted his long-suffering wife to speak up for herself.

The book vacillates between being a zany comedy and a serious story. I felt like it had split-personality disorder and neither route worked. The zany bits were especially awful and even included a side plot with the mob. Occasionally, Keillor's hallmark humor would burst out and I would get a good laugh, but those parts were few and far between. I found a lot of the humor to lean towards being vulgar and mean spirited.

The advice column letters were okay at first and a few were funny, but they mostly bogged down the pacing.

Oddly, in the last few chapters the overriding sentiment of the story was made clear and created some nice moments. The moral being don't take for granted anyone in your life, especially those who have been kind and loyal.

I probably shouldn't have bothered to finish the book, but I love Keillor and kept thinking that it had to get better. It didn't.

Book Review- Marisa Silver's The God of War

I picked up Marisa Silver's, The God of War, at a Goodreads book exchange several years ago. I just grabbed it on a hunch and it has been sitting on my bookshelf. I am very happy to have picked it up and to have finally read it, because it is a fantastic book.

Set by the desolate Salton Sea in California and told through the eyes of twelve year old Ares Ramirez, The God Of War, is a disturbing coming of age story about a kid trying to navigate adolescence in the shadow of a highly dysfunctional family.

The Salton Sea and surrounding shanty towns are as big of a character as any in the story. Having visited the Salton Sea for the first time (and hopefully only time) last Spring, I can completely appreciate the truth of the world that Silver has created. I've never visited somewhere so depressing. The smell of rotten fish permeates and walking on crunching fish bones along the shore was memorable. Even though the book is set in the 70's, the town that she describes is exactly what you will see if you were to visit it today. Having lush Palm Springs just a short drive away, really makes the area extra depressing.

Half a boat in the front year of one of the trailers by the Salton Sea.

Dan and I at The Salton Sea.

Standing on a putrid beach of fish bones.

The abandoned Salton Sea Marina.

This is a community that lives on the fringe, holding tight to their privacy. Ares and his mentally handicapped brother, Malcolm, live with their neglectful mother in a trailer. The thing that is heartbreaking is the mother isn't purposefully negligent, she sincerely loves her family and feels that she is raising her boys in the best manner possible. Ares sees an alternate life with stability, when a librarian from the school intervenes to tutor Malcolm.

The entire story has Ares crying out for love and attention in a variety of ways, sometimes negatively. The sad truth of the entire situation is even when adults intervene, they have to do so at a distance to respect the mother and blood family unit. This is such a pervasive problem in our society and this novel only highlights it through Ares and Malcolm's struggle. Many people see a problem, but nobody steps up in a long-term, meaningful way.

Ares is a kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders, both real and imagined responsibilities. His struggle is a heartbreak to read. Silver gives an authentic and emotive voice to her narrator and tells a compelling story.

I highly recommend The God of War and look forward to reading more novels by Silver.

Book Review- Isabel Allende's The Sum of Our Days

Since discovering her novels in high school, Isabel Allende has remained one of my favorite authors. Her personal life, is just as entertaining and dramatic as those of her fictional characters. The Sum of Our Days is her second memoir, detailing family events following the death of her daughter Paula, whom she wrote about in her first memoir, aptly titled Paula.

Allende never fails to be interesting and her family proves to be a colorful bunch of characters. Despite a myriad of problems (really, what family is problem free?) Allende presents a group of people who love each other fiercely and whom freely embrace bringing new friends into their fold. Their home in San Francisco is a warm place for anyone in need and it is impossible not to fall in love with their family. Allende writes about her family and friends in such a caring way, that I connected with each person.

Allende isn't shoving tips or life lessons down the readers throat, but in a subtle way, she gives a lot of great advice regarding marriage and relationships. The relationship advice extending not just to significant others, but includes children and friends. She has made mistakes and candidly reveals them in this memoir, forcing the reader to be introspective about their own relationships and mistakes. Allende's vulnerability makes her so accessible.

I finished this book, still a huge fan of her writing, but I also wished that I could be part of her family. You know that game where you pick five people that you would want to have as a dinner guest? Allende makes my list.

This book is a must for Allende fans, but would also be a great independent memoir read for someone who is completely unfamiliar with her novels. It stands on its own, although I would recommend reading Paula first, as there are many references to it and the two memoirs are really companion books.