Status Updates From A Lifetime of Men

"Scores of unfinished stories. Artifacts. He wished they'd rise like the vapor from his scotch and disappear."

One of the things I love about this book is how even the secondary characters have a real depth to them. Any one of them could be the protagonist of his/her own novel. Samuel, Lewella, Michael, Parker, Tori... they're all as real as Bo, Sarah, and Tolan, even if they get less time on the page.

"Maybe somewhere, in some other time, there was a version of her that didn't need help..."

Sarah's grit floors me each time. And the charm of the bookstore, with its proprietor, Samuel, and his dog, Bill, provides a welcome counterpoint to the harsh realities of Sarah's life. This section makes it easy to see why Tolan is so conflicted by her mother's manuscript; it's raw & real & beautiful all at once.

This section asks tough questions, tackling issues like the representation of violence in literature, the relationship between an author and her text, and the extent to which it's ever really possible to know another human being, even those we think we're closest to. The novel has been captivating from pg. 1, but in this section, it starts to feel like a really important book as well.

"These tears are for Parker, non-existent Parker, who had his non-existent heart smashed to non-existent pieces by the non-existent woman he loved."

We knew Bo wouldn't be one to slip quietly into her expected role as a woman in mid-century America, but it's fun to see her childhood spunk settle into a fierce determination as she matures, even if I have to admit that I, like Tolan, shed a few tears for Parker.

The race scene kills me every time—so much raw emotion.

"But today isn't about finishing; she isn't running to anything, not trying to finish or to qualify for states or to land a scholarship. She's running from—from her mother, from Bo and her dead parents, from cancer."

I want the Tolan chapters to go on forever, at least, until I read the next Bo scene, and then I'm sucked right back in to her world!

I love Bo's early years. Her voice is so innocent, which makes the weight of all she has to process that much harder to bear. Still, you can already tell she will be an indomitable woman.

And how gorgeous is the writing? "Bo didn't mean to crawl into her sister's lap, but she did, surprising them both, and they watched the moment carve itself out in space and time, silent, both of them aware of its fragility."