 | A WRITER'S WIT |  G. Vidal |
MY BOOK WORLD
Strout, Elizabeth. Tell Me Everything: A Novel. New York: Random, 2024.
In this nonlinear novel, as is Strout’s style, it is as if she gathers together all the characters she’s ever written into her novels and catches us up on all their doings. And she does. Within the range of several Maine towns (people are always driving from one to another to shop or see someone they know), back and forth she travels until she brings everyone’s story up-to-date.
However, there is one character who garners more attention than others, a lawyer named Bob Burgess. When speaking with a friend, it is clear that said friend is about to be accused of murdering his mother years earlier, and Bob agrees to take on his case in court. Bob has his own problems. In childhood, he apparently takes the fall for accidentally killing his father, when it is actually his older brother who’s done it (an even more likely possibility will surface). And then there’s good old Olive Kitteridge, now ninety-one, living an apartment by herself. Author Lucy Barton stops by every so often and the two women swap “stories,” usually with a whiff of sordidness or at least . . . something curiosity-making. Makes me want to re-read all nine of the author’s books I’ve read as well as the two I haven’t! I’ve sung Strout’s praises before, and I’m going to do so again here. She knows how to tell stories that are interesting and appealing to a broad range of people. Get hooked on her, like I have!
Up Next:
MON 10/06: WHAT I'M THINKING ... IF ANYTHING
TUES 10/07: A Writer's Wit | Michelle Alexander
WEDS 10/08: A Writer's Wit | Francisque Sarcey
THURS 10/09: A Writer's Wit | Jane Cooper
FRI 10/03: A Writer's Wit | Nora Roberts
My Book World | TBD
In this nonlinear novel, as is Strout’s style, it is as if she gathers together all the characters she’s ever written into her novels and catches us up on all their doings. And she does. Within the range of several Maine towns (people are always driving from one to another to shop or see someone they know), back and forth she travels until she brings everyone’s story up-to-date.
However, there is one character who garners more attention than others, a lawyer named Bob Burgess. When speaking with a friend, it is clear that said friend is about to be accused of murdering his mother years earlier, and Bob agrees to take on his case in court. Bob has his own problems. In childhood, he apparently takes the fall for accidentally killing his father, when it is actually his older brother who’s done it (an even more likely possibility will surface). And then there’s good old Olive Kitteridge, now ninety-one, living an apartment by herself. Author Lucy Barton stops by every so often and the two women swap “stories,” usually with a whiff of sordidness or at least . . . something curiosity-making. Makes me want to re-read all nine of the author’s books I’ve read as well as the two I haven’t! I’ve sung Strout’s praises before, and I’m going to do so again here. She knows how to tell stories that are interesting and appealing to a broad range of people. Get hooked on her, like I have!
Up Next:
MON 10/06: WHAT I'M THINKING ... IF ANYTHING
TUES 10/07: A Writer's Wit | Michelle Alexander
WEDS 10/08: A Writer's Wit | Francisque Sarcey
THURS 10/09: A Writer's Wit | Jane Cooper
FRI 10/03: A Writer's Wit | Nora Roberts
My Book World | TBD
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