Jane E. Applebee

Flashback to the 1970s in Northern California

Revisado: 04-20-21

Told in a series of flashbacks punctuated with more recent visits to a therapist, Bross relives his childhood in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Bross himself narrates the audiobook well, his voice is very pleasant, even when recounting horrifying incidents and a litany of neglect that puts him in danger and discomfort while growing up with alternately too much control - by a domineering step-father - and then too little control - by his charismatic mother.

Yet Bross’s deep affection for his mother and his siblings kept him afloat when a lesser mensch would have called time and shuffled off this mortal coil. Despite a growing discomfort with the circumstances of his life, Bross remained indomitable, rationalizing his experiences with the help of his particular brand of dark humor and the support of his older sister. And there was fun, with his bitingly-cynical, counter-culture, unreliable mother. And it was cool... some of the time.

Bross’s family reflected the Zeitgeist of the 1970s in California - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Bross met some interesting and famous people in his time in groovy San Francisco, affluent Marin County, and rural Davis. He was an observant child whose memories were stored so that he can report to us now the chaos swirling around him then.

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A bullet point of a story.

Revisado: 03-31-21

I'm left wondering if this is an act of revenge for a bad review that Tobias Wolff received, or if it is to avenge all heartless reviews of any books. Regardless, it is an entertaining 13 minutes.

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Spend some time with Melville and Hawthorne

Revisado: 01-19-21

I loved hearing about the relationship between these two giants of American Literature. The story drags a bit here and there, and it sort of ruined Melville for me, but Moby Dick becomes even more fabulous and this book makes me look forward to my next reading of The Whale.

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compelling trip to nowhere

Revisado: 12-17-20

I feel bad for Sophie's family, it must be awful to have your mother brutally murdered and never have resolution. Ian is a dick. I am moving on.

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So so so so so mind numbingly boring

Revisado: 04-15-20

I've read a lot of Barbara Vine and I love her writing, so I was excited to start this novel. It goes on forever and nothing really ever happens. I don't understand what happened here, but if you are expecting an interesting psychological thriller, avoid this title at all costs. Nothing to see here. Hemophilia, the subject of the main characters agonizingly obsessive study, gets the blood drained out of it. The narrator is perfect for this piece of emotional vampiry, droning on and on as if everything he has to say is dead interesting. Seriously dull.

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Epic simile for an epic

Revisado: 11-07-19

this book is like unto a child who prattles to a mother, "... and then, and then, and then,..." never concluding, never satisfying totally the listener, reveling in innumerable details and actions. Finally, exhausted from waiting for a conclusion, the parent, in place of a god, steps in with the lightening bolt words, "Enough, bedtime."
(It was wonderful to wander around the 21st century listening to this particular prattling child from an ancient world.)

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