Spilling Clarence

by Anne Ursu

What if you could suddenly remember everything that ever happened to you, every joy and every sorrow that you had ever endured Would it be a blessing -- or a curse This is the fate of the residents of the town of Clarence, who fall under the spell of a strange and powerful drug that unlocks their memories. The past comes flooding back without the buffer of time, and the townspeople, young and old, find themselves awash in their own reminiscences -- of love and death, of war and childhood, of happiness they've experienced, and sins they've committed. Beautifully rendered with a light comic touch, this bittersweet novel is about more than the sum of its beguiling parts. Spilling Clarence explores our relationship with our histories, the seductive pull of regret, the unreliability of memory, and the bliss of forgetting. A universe peopled by exquisitely drawn characters, Spilling Clarence is a moving introduction to the impressive talents of an exciting new writer.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Fantasy, Adult, Contemporary, Science Fiction, Novels

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 2, 2002

About the author

Anne Ursu is the author of several fantasies for young readers, including THE REAL BOY, which was longlisted for the National Book Award, and BREADCRUMBS, which was named as one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly, Amazon, and School Library Journal. She is also the recipient of a McKnight Fellowship. She teaches at the Hamline University's Masters of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and lives in Minneapolis. Her next book, THE LOST GIRL, will be out in February 2018.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, in my quest to read everything by the author (even though some of the subjects don't appeal to me, because I'm a sucker for her writing style), I found her debut. And, yes, this is imperfect. Sometimes the prose is almost purple. There's a reference to the exposed myth of the Kitty Genovese episode. And characters didn't get screen time anywhere nearly in proportion to their weight of significance.

Otoh, just past halfway, we start a chapter with:

"Once upon a time there was a young man named Benjamin who loathed history. To him, math at least had built-in mechanisms for uncertainty. Science had a methodology for answering its questions about the origins of things. History was myth disguised as literature disguised as science and Benjamin didn't like it one bit."

Or consider this vote in favor of chain stores:

The "good people of Clarence come to... participate in the institutions that make their country great.... To have the same retail experience as aunts, third-cousins, and long-lost friends around the country. It brings us all a little closer.... Right now, everyone in America is smelling cinnamon scones and eyeing staff recommendations marked with red-and-tan 30% off stickers."

(Well hey, it's one way of looking at it, no?)

So, whether this is Literature, or SF, or magical realism, doesn't matter. The fact that there's quite a bit of disturbing stuff amongst the "beguiling" and "tender" stuff doesn't matter. What matters is that it's lovely, and that I'm adding this author to my "will try anything by despite the subject matter" shortlist.

[Jacki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I thought that the premise of this book was a good one: a drug company has a fire, thus exposing the members of the community to a chemical that opens up all kinds of memories in their brains.

The follow-through was just poor. I felt like the writing was weak and the story wasn't really 'full' enough. The characters were sort of cliche and there were story lines that didn't need to exist and some that weren't really followed up on.

I feel like this book could have comfortably been 70 pages shorter and just chopped all the crap or 100 pages longer and really followed through with what she started.

It is an alright first novel. A quick read.

[Gianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm guessing I was about fourteen when I first read this book and I've continued to name it among my favorites ever since. It was gifted to me by a dear family friend who passed away years ago, so I've carried it around with me from apartment to apartment at least in part because of the significance of the object itself. I get so much comfort from my copy with its deckled edges and the soft yellows and greens of the dust jacket with a small tear at the top. When I began rereading Spilling Clarence last month I worried a little that I might not find the story as meaningful as I once did, but thankfully it's aged well and at 28 I found it funny, engaging, cinematic, and worthy of its place on my bookshelf.

Spilling Clarence is a character study. It's true that nothing much happens in this book. There's a chemical leak, yes, but that event is only a brief precursor and narrative supporting actor to the central drama which is really just the human experience, as it's lived by the residents of Clarence. The characters are all interconnected a la Love Actually and there are some other tropes in this book that are reminiscent of a chick flick, but folded into the emotional density of the plot they seem mostly honest and real rather than trite and saccharine.

Personally, I'm into stories about processing feelings. I'm into stories that spend some time in academia (if only tangentially) and I'm very into stories about how hard and beautiful it is to be a human being that don't take themselves too seriously. If that sounds like you too, you might enjoy Spilling Clarence as much as I have.

[Jaemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clarence, Minnesota is a unique place. A small town, even with its University and Psychopharmaceutical Factory. Lives follow a fairly regular routine---for some it might even be a rut. But an enjoyable one. For most.

Bennie Singer and his daughter Sophie share a Friday ritual: a visit to Davis & Dean, the giant bookstore which sees Clarence as an experiment. Bennie loves to watch Sophie poor through the books, memorizing more facts than he can get his mind around. He's occupied in just this fashion when the Emergency Alert siren sounds.

Also at Davis & Dean are Lilith, the cafe worker, and Susannah, currently directionless. Susannah thinks that if Todd (her boyfriend) were there, he would know what was happening. He would have more to say than the Emergency Alert voice. He could tell them what it might mean that a chemical might be dispersing into the air.

As soon as it's "safe" to head back home, Bennie heads to the local Senior Community to check on his mother. He finds most of the residents annoyed more than concerned. And life goes on.

It's a slow thing, people noticing the change. And then it isn't. Everywhere, people are out of sorts. Crying, disabled, not going to work, not getting out of bed. Lives flash before eyes. Madeline Singer's new love interest is taken away, catatonic. Bennie Singer erupts in class, telling his new students the story of his wife's death. Not long after, he stops going altogether. He brings his mother home, where she becomes completely passive. Weeks later roles will reverse and Madeline will be doing all she can think of to get her son out of bed.

Sophie, who seems to take things in stride, doesn't know what to think. Her teacher has stopped teaching. Eventually her teacher is gone. Her best friends no longer speak to her. Strange things are going on in her head. Her dad isn't himself.

Susannah moves into the Senior Community, leaving Todd at home. She spends her time trying to help others, unsure how to help herself. At home, in the the lab, Todd gets an idea. Bennie has told him it's the deletrium. To find a cure. Todd doesn't think they need one. He thinks all of this will pass. But what state will Clarence be in when it does?

Slowly, people come back to themselves. The factory is rebuilt. Jobs are re-offered. A party is planned. Davis & Dean sales go from dismal to record-breaking.

Bennie has learned some hard lessons. Todd has become more human. Susannah is working on a plan, with some help and pushing from Madeline. All over Clarence, people are changed.

I found the entire idea of this book completely fascinating. Imagine an unknown substance contaminating a town, no one talking about it, no one knowing what it will actually do. This is a substance generally combined with others to make them work. Left to its own devices, it could do anything.

Anne Ursu is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. Her style is excellent and unique, and even in such a heavy story, humorous. Definitely worth a read.

What will you remember?

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

The town of Clarence lives in the shadow of a psychotropic drug factory. The factory burns down, leading to the release of some potent memory-stimulating drugs. The book deals with a number of people in the nearby town and how they are affected by the inability to shield their memories -- from the World War II veteran who was among the first into Dachau to a widower father and his author mother.

It's interesting how the author weaves together the personal stories and psychological theory. There's a definite psycho-humanist cant to the book; the author doesn't seem to have much use for the neurological branch of psychology. The theory of the book seems to be that forgetfulness is how the mind protects itself from mnemonic overload. Without forgetting, every event -- smell, taste, sight, sound, feel, would trigger associations that a person would have to re-experience.

I'm not sure that this would be quite as crippling as the author seems to think. But what do I know? I have a terrible memory. Admittedly, the focus is on a few characters whose traumas might be hard to forget; but the description surrounding the other inhabitants of the town indicates that most of them are similarly affected.

I probably wouldn't have run across this book if I hadn't been looking for an author whose name starts with 'U' for the A-Z Author's Challenge, but I'm glad I did.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

When small town Clarence, Minnesota experiences a chemical explosion from the manufacturer of a mind altering, anti depressant, the pharmaceutical factory isn't the only thing that melts down.

Systematically the town folk are bombarded with images from their past. While some memories are positive, the majority of Clarence experiences thoughts and obsessions regarding mistakes they made.

A turn meant for the right becomes the left with tragic results. A marriage to a non-love of a life causes an elderly woman to ruminate about choices that could have/should have been made.

As an external air of complacency renders the town dormant, internally the brains of he residents are working over time.

The author's fascinating work examines the definition of memory, ie how "real" are the events we remember. Is forgetting the best defensive mechanism the mind holds?

Highly recommended.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spilling Clarence is a book with a fantastic, original premise. A fire at a pharmaceutical plant that manufactures anti-depressants releases a chemical into the air of the town of Clarence, which causes its residents to remember everything that has ever happened to them. This book could have been brilliant, but it's as if the author used up all her creativity on this one great idea. All of the characters are flat and cliched--the widower, the novelist, the WWII soldier. The plot is predictable and sappy. I wish the author could have given this idea to a better writer.

[Marty · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too domestic for my taste. I loved the premise, but the characters were stiff at times and the writing waxed maudlin too often to be effective. The prose was more interested in waffling around with poetic sounding phrases to actually get on with a plot. A little more action, a little less theoretical yammering and this would have me hooked.

[Katieeoh Lacanlale · Rating 4 out of 5]

One word to describe this book: MAGICAL.

This is practically one of the most unbelievable yet truthfully acclaimed books I’ve read for a long time now. This is just a book I found on a thrift store, sold to me for 20PHP and never expected that this book is really good once you came to understand all the details that come up together to formulate a much beautiful connection between the characters.

There was this small town named Clarence that’s living peacefully ever since and almost all of the people are living normal lives….

What if one day you found out that something catastrophic would happen and it affect all of you, trapping you in an absurd world you never even knew would happen?

Just like losing your memories.


This book is mainly about a factory in a small town that has occurred and unfamiliar event in the nuclear reactor center, causing a major spill of chemicals that the result is airborne. The story follows different characters whose lives were affected, trying to find a way to get out of the delusions and unexpected experiences of losing a part of their memories that they once had.

A beautiful story of faith, love , compassion and hope.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember exactly when I was reading this book because of what was going on in my mind and the country. That said, it was a wonderful read and memorable all on its own - without personal or profound tie ins.
In some ironic way, the book is about a chemical spill that has the effect of invoking memories in all of the townspeople. It grips some people so massively that they become stuck in the past and unable to function on the day to day.
Sections of the book were so instinctual, like Ursu had plucked them from my very own brain - things we have all thought, but never were able to elucidate quite as well.
Read this book. Love it for what it is. Dwell in how you would feel if all memories - good and bad came back to you in vivid color.
A cool concept for a plot and very well written.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite quote from this book is:

"I want you to know that no matter what happens, no matter how helpless you feel, no matter where the tide of life takes you, you always have a choice. You can always take action." - Madline Singer pg. 254

This book is an excellent reflection on the power and affect of memory. Of course, this book is an exaggeration - but there are still lessons to be learned and things to ponder. How much do our memories and pasts effect how we behave in the present, the choices we make (or don't make), the relationships we have etc.

It's a good book, it took me awhile to get "into" the story for some reason. I actually started reading it a few years ago and then stopped and then came back to it this year. I think you have to be in a certain type of mood for some books and this is one of them.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t remember if this is my 3rd or 4th read of this book. I love it. I have insisted that family and friends who are readers read it.

I love the characters.
I love the story.
I love the topic of memory
I love the writing style and all the various lists Ursu frequently includes.
I love the progression and resolution (or lack there of) for each character.

I remember the first time I read it, crying at the scene at the end between Suzanne and Madeline. I remember it because I was on the bus on the way to work. I got teary a couple of times this time through and cried again at that scene. It is so touching to me. And the message is so powerful that we always have a choice in life. We can always act. We are not a piece of driftwood in the seas of life forced to passively go where the waves take us. We can chart a course and take action. It is empowering.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fascinating premise (as the result of a chemical leak, all the people in the town of Clarence begin to remember everything that has ever happened to them), but not well executed. I was disappointed.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must say that to me, this book got off to a slow start. I was tempted to put it aside, but decided to stick with it. While it was kind of science fiction, which I don't care for, it also made me think of Stephen King, which is not necessarily bad. I think Mr. King would like it.

[Sarah Pottenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in the mood to re-read this. It's amazing. I would tie anyone to a chair and make them read it.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scary subject-Gets you thinking

[Nyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my faves. One which inspires me to write more than most other books.

[William Wehrmacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed emotions about Spilling Clarence. I read it, and only finished it, as a book club selection. We are offered several books from which to choose and, at the time and from the description on the back cover, this seemed likely to be likable.

It wasn't. Well, at least not for nearly the first 200 pages. That is a big chunk of a 277 page book. It did get better in the last 77 pages.

From the back of the book, I assumed that Clarence was a person. It is not. Clarence is a town with a collection of, eventually, well formed characters. I finally decided that Clarence is the anthropomorphism of the collections of characters and two businesses. At any rate, Clarence is quirky, as are many small towns and, as a human, is subject to disease. In this case, it is a fire in a pharmaceutical factory, the fumes from which infect the rest of the human cells of Clarence forcing them to remember everything. This results in considerable sorrow and other symptoms of what one might associate with dementia; children begin picking on each other, some parents retreat to their beds to weep over their history, one old man goes into coma, the other main business, a franchised book store, does so poorly that the manager is on the verge of being replaced. All in all, Clarence becomes pretty sick.

Like most disease, however, Clarence gets well; like getting over a cold. Clarence gets to feeling better. I won't detail the ending, but I will say it is not what I expected nor hoped for; I am regularly accused, rightfully so, that I am a hopeless Romantic.

One of the book club kit questions asked the role of the businesses. I think they can be seen as what a doctor would look at if diagnosing Clarence. The factory, would be the organ that is responsible for the disease, and the book store as the thing into which one would put a thermometer to assess Clarence's relative health.

I didn't like the writing style. It seemed like a cross between On the Road by Jack Kerouac and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. For the first 85 pages, I would have given Spilling Clarence one star. I was ready to bump it up to two stars by the time I got to the end. Following the discussion in the book club, I thought three stars.

I guess I am glad I read this book, but I am not sure would recommend it.

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5/5

My Original Thoughts (2002):

Read most of this on my day off. The first few pages grabbed my attention as the narrative moved to a chain bookstore called Davis & Dean (remineding me of B&N and Borders). A father and daughter are enjoying their Friday afternoon ritual of visiting the bookstore when a psychopharmaceutical factory has an accident and a memory-enhancing drug is released into the air of small college town named Clarence. Bernie, a widower, teaches at the college. His nine-year-old daughter is precocious, but likeable. Somewhat predictable, but very suspenseful. A hint of Stephen King's stories.

The voice in the first half of the book was annoying. Almost a "tell-it-like-it-is" that felt abrupt and choppy. The narrator seems to address the reader as someone describing a made-for-tv movie. But, thankfully, the second half is almost void of this "style."

My Current Thoughts:

I no longer have a copy of this debut novel, but I remember that I enjoyed it quite well.

[2la · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book came into my possession when I stumbled across it at a thrift store for 50 cents. since I never heard of it or the author, I assumed it was going to be a cheeseball of a book. however, i couldn’t have been more wrong. although I admit I hated it at first (I found it very boring). the more I read and the characters and their emotions unfolded, tge more I enjoyed reading it. the premise of the book revolves around character development which can be a bit of a hit or miss. but in my opinion anne does it quite well, so ima chock it up to a hit. yay Anne!

[H.L. Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of an airborne, psycho-pharmaceutical spill as the catalyst for everyone remembering is a great idea for a book. I'm not sure the recorded memories were all that significant or impressive and couldn't have been remembered and dealt with without the chemical spill. I suppose the story unfolded this way because she wanted it to be more literary and less sci-fi. Also, the author shot a bullet at some deep philosophical questions, but then seemed to glance off answering them.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was food for thought! Do we really want to remember everything? bit of an illustration of why we suppress, or just 'forget' certain parts of our lives - would be too tough to stay in some of those memories.
this story uses a chemical accident as the vehicle to explore people's lives and emotions, and help them move past some of it. Enjoyed the character development, ow the various folks coped.

[Hannah Woody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spilling Clarence is a book that I would overall recommend. The author's writing style is the best thing about this book. It is not straightforward. Her syntax really mirrors the content of the book, something that I always get excited about, as the reader can empathize with the characters. Especially in this instance! Anyways, go ahead and give it a go if you like unpredictability and if you are into psychology or how the mind and memory works.

[Bradley Brill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was tempted to rate this at two-stars, but decided that was my disappointment speaking over the at qualities of this publication that make it a worthwhile read. What a fascinating and potentially intriguing concept for the story line, but alas the author just cannot conjure the creativity to develop this to the depth that it deserved. Far too much sophomoric, sarcastic humor detracts even further. Oh, too, too bad!

[Linda Checkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love stories where the characters feel believable, the plot is imaginative, and where although not everything wraps up tidily at the end, there is a satisfying ending. This novel does all that. It also gave me many things to think about, reflect on, and hopefully write down as I go deeper into all the connections that this story provoked for me. The concept of memories coming back so vividly, uncontrollably, and persistently was very well presented!

[Adam Melville · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it all the way through, so it wasn’t that bad, but it seemed like it was trying too hard to be a movie. I read a few chapters and stopped, then went back just see what happens. Well written, just not that interesting.

[Lori Koppelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounding up from 3.5

I enjoyed the writing more than anything, and the plot carried me along. Writing my review a month after finishing, though, and I cannot find myself able to say much more, so not very memorable.

[Courtney Durrant Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading this several times, but I'm glad I finished. Cute book about people remembering everything.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant writing.

[Ebirdy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable book. Some of her thoughts on memory and grief really made you think. She had some humor to leaven what could otherwise be a bleak story and her characters were well drawn.