The Guest

The Guest by Emma Cline
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Guest by Emma Cline was a disappointing book with an unresolved ending after following the disaffected main character through the seductive Long Island landscape and many pages. Mesmerizing enough to keep me plodding on to see how she finagles yet another man and maintains her optimism that her lover will take her back, but not satisfying, in the end, despite the effort of the author. What happened? Cline's other book, The Girls, was much more appealing to me in plot and writing.

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I Am Homeless if This is Not My Home

I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lorrie Moore's new novel, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, was a wistful tale of two brothers, one in hospice, and the other's peculiar road trip with the ghost of a lover interspersed with epistemological entries from a nineteenth century murderess. The writing is excellent and witty. The pacing is fine. But what did it all mean and why the letters? If that sort of structural ambiguity troubles you, I can't recommend this book. I read mainly for good writing yet I was confused. Check out Ron Charles: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...

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The Rabbit Hutch

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Rabbit Hutch is a brilliant piece of writing, almost too rich. Various stories and characters residing in a decrepit low-rent housing complex in the Rust Belt compete for the reader's attention and each is about quirky, self-involved, precariously sane individuals, all interesting, but none in which I became invested. The pacing chugged forward nicely until about two-thirds in when I was anxious for resolution for the young Blandine who has suffered so much damage. Animals are hurt, too. But what do I know? This book was on eligibility lists for the Booker Prize, the Women's Fiction Prize, the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022, and the National Book Awards Longlist. I also read this book at an emotionally fraught time over spousal illness so my impressions may be skewed. The author has an amazing imagination and the writing is excellent.

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