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I can't believe this is the first Roddy Doyle I've picked up. A decade ago when I lived in Dublin I volunteered for his creative writing charity, Fighting Words, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I'm listening to the audiobook of this and if you like sometimes wry, often contemplative character studies you'll adore this as much as I am.

I'd forgotten why I wanted to read this book, and the premise hooked me from page one, so when it casually dropped "I'm asexual" out of the main character's mouth I dropped the book and started sobbing immediately.

An EXCELLENT start.

I can't speak to the plot as of yet, as I'm only through 3 chapters, but the vibes so far remind me heavily of the intro chapter of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible. Something about the lushly described scenes and the omniscient Other "we" point of view, I think. I'm obsessed.

I've read this book before - many, many, many, many times. I've got a physical copy I've owned since childhood that's more sticky notes than original printed pages at this point. But I don't have that copy with me and today, wanting to share an excerpt with a friend, I checked out a digital copy. And now I'm rereading it again. Wild how such a slim book has had such a monumental impact on me as a human

The intro has me crying for every emotion in the world, so that's where I'm at rolling into the stories themselves. Gods, y'all

"There will be sunsets, as long as there is dust.
There will be dust."
~"Oh Children"

"Were things good then?
Yes. They were good.
Did you know they were good?
At the time? Your time?

No, because I was worrying
or maybe hungry
or asleep, half of those hours.
Once in a while there was a pear or plum
or a cup with something in it,
or a white curtain, rippling,
or else a hand"

I don't have the characters to transpose all of "Salt" but EVERY poem in this book is hitting me like this one. Gd I love her