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Title: I really wanted to like this book...
Review: I have nothing against stories about "the dark side" of life, and I really wanted to be moved, or at least intrigued, by this one. But frankly my dear, I don't give a damn about it. The author can't write two paragraphs in a row that are not overflowing with pretentious, baffling, "poetic" prose. Wading through all of that leaves the reader no time, energy or interest to care about what the author might actually mean.Every once and a while, Gaitskill hits the nail on the head with a razor-sharp metaphor or insight. But most of the time, she sounds like a stoned tenth-grader. And since you know from the start that everyone is doomed, there's not even any story to make slogging through the writing worth it.The fact that this book was shortlisted for this and a finalist for that is proof of the literary world's motto: "If it's unintelligible, it must be good." Ms. Gaitskill should get a copy of Myers' "A Reader's Manifesto" and learn.
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