Book Review - James Hannah's The A-Z of You and Me

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with an advanced copy of James Hannah's novel, The A-Z of You and Me, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT - Ivo is only in his early 40's, yet his life is coming to an end. As he spends his last weeks in a hospice, a nurse gives him a game to play: he must recall memories with associated body parts for each letter of the alphabet. Beginning with "A", Ivo recalls a childhood memory involving an Adam's Apple. Ivo remembers his life, love, and regrets, as his pain medication makes his mind increasingly foggy, and he succumbs to his disease.

LIKE- I like the concept of The A-Z of You and Me. The idea of connecting body parts to recalled memories, generates compelling stories and it provides an interesting framework for the novel. The book deals with Ivo's relationships and often poor choices with regard to friends and experiences. To that end, the story is filled with memorable secondary characters; people that you wouldn't want to know in real life, but make for a good story. There is a very sweet memory involving knitted hearts hung in trees in the middle of the night. It's magical and cinematic. 

DISLIKE- I just didn't connect with Ivo, which is a huge problem. He's definitely a character that has made some bad choices, but he's still the protagonist, and I felt that I should be rooting for him. It's clear that his health isn't going to improve, but I wanted to care about his final decisions to make peace with his past.  I felt indifference towards Ivo, which is almost worse than disliking a character. I can't quite pinpoint the issue causing my indifference, possibly character voice? 

RECOMMEND- No. Ultimately my disconnect from Ivo makes Hannah's debut novel a no-go as far as recommending it. Although, if Hannah's second novel catches my interest, I'd give him a second chance as a writer. The A-Z of You and Me isn't terrible, it just didn't have the emotional impact that I anticipating. 

Book Review- Erica Jong's Fear of Dying

Erica Jong: super famous and revolutionary writer, whom until now, I had never read. I saw that her latest novel, Fear of Dying, was available on NetGalley, so I sent in a review request. Thank You to St. Martin's Press for allowing me the opportunity to review Jong's novel, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT - Vanessa Wonderman is in her early 60's and death seems to be surrounding her. Both of her parents are on hospice, her older husband has had a major heath-scare and she finds herself lamenting her fading youth, both her looks and her ability to find sexual satisfaction. She realizes that although actual death is beyond her control, she can get plastic surgery and have love affairs to regain her youth. Will these solutions allow Vanessa to find satisfaction or can she accept life's changes as she grows closer to death?

LIKE - Jong has come up in many sociology, history and literature classes that I've taken. She's also a pop-culture icon. Although she is my mother's generation, I've been keen to read her. It may have been backwards to read Fear of Dying, before Fear of Flying, as the characters cross-over, but the latest novel, also works as a stand alone story.

The first half of the story, which primarily deals with Vanessa processing the impending deaths of both of her parents and potentially her husband, is very well-crafted. Although I'm much younger than Vanessa, I've had to deal with caring for dying relatives and both her reactions and emotions rang very honest. Vanessa is not a saintly character in the slightest and she is very blunt about her unease around her parent's death, especially the physical decline of the human body. Vanessa's honesty is a double-edged sword. It made me feel that she was rendered realistically, but it also made me dislike and disconnect from her. She may feel like a real person, but she is narcissistic and not someone that you would want to know.

Vanessa's perspective, as someone who is caught between still feeling and looking (somewhat) young and beautiful, yet who is also seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, made for a compelling scenario. Jong has many wonderfully stated passages about age, aging as a woman and death, that add poignancy to Fear of Dying. 

DISLIKE - The story went downhill in the last half. I found the idea that Vanessa would seek an online affair to be compelling, especially in light of the recent Ashley Madison scandal, however   other than a few messy dates, this plot line crumbled. It wasn't clear what Vanessa was trying to achieve. Maybe she didn't even know? The story devolved into rambling philosophical passages and very graphic sex talk.

Let's talk about the sex in Fear of Dying. I'm not a prude at all, but the sex in this story was pushing the envelope. It was sheerly for shock value. I wanted to know more about Vanessa's emotions and internal conflicts, rather than her exploits or sex fantasies. It was unnecessarily graphic. I don't have to read Fear of Flying to know that Jong shocked readers back in the 1970's. It takes more to shock the modern audience for Fear of Dying, making the "shocks" seem like a desperate move. The story simply didn't need it. Less would have been more. 

Fear of Dying felt more non-fiction than fiction. It reads like a biography, which may be a storytelling positive, as it has a very clear, strong voice. On the flip side, the reason why it felt non-fction was the rambling thoughts that disconnected me from the story. 

RECOMMEND -  I found Fear of Dying to be very messy, with an unlikeable protagonist, but with the occasional profound observation. If you're a fan of Jong, you'll definitely want to read this. It also likely to be a bestseller, so you might want to read it to join in the water cooler conversation.