Matt Snediker’s Reviews > We Were the Mulvaneys > Status Update

“You’ll have to be realistic, Marianne.”

JCO the Queen of subtext. A much subtler writer than the buzz around Blonde, Zombie, et al. Knows how to tattoo a message to the inside of your eyelids, while you sleep, while you read the innocuous family happenings. The fact that the criticism of the parents, especially of the mother, is so under the surface, in a story narrated by one of the sons… so good

I’ve read BLACK WATER, WHERE ARE YOU GOING, and 52% of this book. JCO’s oeuvre posits that men see the world as being all male, invariably: front to back, guy to lady, animal to human,vegetable to mineral; and that the most progressive and understanding the men can hope to become is to eventually, with much dismay & self-loathing, come to the conclusion that everything male, including themselves, should be killed

I wanna say that the popular 2 star goodreads review of this book where the person’s like “um, this isn’t about a horrible event destroying a perfect family? The parents are awful!!!” is a perfect example of the literacy crisis in America, but I think there’s a lot more than illiteracy going on there tbh…

Not a book for someone who wants their messages spoon fed, themes highlighted, morals made clear.

A book about the downfall of wanting to be the main character and author of someone else’s story you happen to be living in.