A few years ago now my dad bought this book called "The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books." Edited by J. Peder Zane. Basically it is list after list of different authors picking the top ten books that they were influenced by or just loved. It's a pretty awesome book and I of course devoured the lists again and again. I love reading about what authors enjoy reading, it reminds me that they were once just book worms themselves. Anyway I was particuliarly interested in the lists of Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner two authors I really enjoy. I saw that I had read five of Jodi Picoult's top ten and none of Jennifer Weiner's so I thought I would take a stab at the first on the list. This happened to be a book called "Geek Love" written by Katherine Dunn, published by Alfred A. Knopf (a division of Random House) in 1989 and the copy I read has the ISBN 9780446391306.
The story is that of the Binewskis a carnival family who, in order to keep their carnival going, give birth to freaks. Lil Binewski ensures that her children are 'special' by taking all types of drugs and poisons while pregnant. By keeping to this regimen she creates Arturo (Arty) a boy with flippers instead of hands and feet. Elly and Iphy Siamese twins, Oly a hunchback albino dwarf, and Chick who on the outside looks normal but has telekinetic powers. This makes up the Binewski children and the heart of the carnival. They travel around the country making money off their freakdom.
The book goes back and forth between the past and the present all told thorugh Oly's eyes. She remembers being in the carnival living behind the scenes, helping her siblings be as majestic as they can be. In the present she lives her life doing radio shows with her talent for voices to pay the bills and spends her evenings spying on her daughter. Her daughter who lives in the same building as Oly but doesn't know that Oly is her mother. But Oly goes to extreme lengths to protect her daughter. I didn't enjoy the book all that much. I don't people to think that I didn't like it because of the subject matter I just didn't enjoy how she handled the whole thing. There were no redeeming qualities about the family that I saw. The storytelling was mediocre at best and the story dragged. By the time I was close to finishing it I was itching for the end. It was a book I had to force myself to finish which is a rare thing.
The thing about "Geek Love" though is that it really is a book that is off the beaten path. If you are looking for a book that is strange and a little bit sad this might be a book that you would enjoy. It's a book that isn't what you expect, the story takes you for a ride. It wasn't a ride that I enjoyed all that much but you may. It's not a tale for all so be warned if you aren't willing to take a trip down a slightly dark alley stay away from this book. Because it is a dark journey that kicks you in the teeth more often than not.
No comments:
Post a Comment