Helpful Score: 1
This book is a must read for aspirants to a MFA writing program, or and English PhD, and also to survivors of these programs. Persons in humanities academia will appreciate the name dropping, inside jokes, and mentions of deconstructionism. Other may find them tedious.
The book is a little slow to get started, but does pick up somewhat after that.
The book is seriously marred by 2 chapters "humorously" describing a circumcision. The characters gleefully talk about the "healthfulness and cleanliness" of circumcision... a very dated opinion considering the recent spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a very real risk of infant circumcision. This is not a great subject for humor.
A small request for the author:
1) Next time you write about circumcision, please watch one first. Babies do not "coo happily" an hour or two after having 10,000+ nerve endings and 40% of their penile skin removed.
2) All babies, including fictional ones, deserve the best possible start in life. Among PhD educated stay-at-home moms in the USA (as two moms are in the book) breast feeding rates are well over 90%. The mention of "bottles" in this book significantly detracts form the realism.
3) Real babies, at 3-6 months old, do not sleep most of the time. Visit with a mom of a 3 month old for a few hours, and you will see what life is really like.
The book is a little slow to get started, but does pick up somewhat after that.
The book is seriously marred by 2 chapters "humorously" describing a circumcision. The characters gleefully talk about the "healthfulness and cleanliness" of circumcision... a very dated opinion considering the recent spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a very real risk of infant circumcision. This is not a great subject for humor.
A small request for the author:
1) Next time you write about circumcision, please watch one first. Babies do not "coo happily" an hour or two after having 10,000+ nerve endings and 40% of their penile skin removed.
2) All babies, including fictional ones, deserve the best possible start in life. Among PhD educated stay-at-home moms in the USA (as two moms are in the book) breast feeding rates are well over 90%. The mention of "bottles" in this book significantly detracts form the realism.
3) Real babies, at 3-6 months old, do not sleep most of the time. Visit with a mom of a 3 month old for a few hours, and you will see what life is really like.
