A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore

an unfortunate - 2 STARS

About the book -
Tassie Keltjin, 20, a smalltown girl weathering a clumsy college year in the Athens of the Midwest, is taken on as prospective nanny by brittle Sarah Brink, the proprietor of a pricey restaurant who is desperate to adopt a baby despite her dodgy past. Subsequent adventures in prospective motherhood involve a pregnant girl with scarcely a tooth in her head and a white birth mother abandoned by her African-American boyfriend—both encounters expose class and racial prejudice to an increasingly less naïve Tassie. In a parallel tale, Tassie lands a lover, enigmatic Reynaldo, who tries to keep certain parts of his life a secret from Tassie. 

My review -
Well I wouldn't go as far as saying I hated the book, but I did have a strong dislike for it. Half of it was B-o-r-i-n-g! and the other half was just plain annoying. I didn't like any of the characters. Tassie, besides her name being cute was dull and dim, all she ever had to say was "OK" and "Yes" I kept waiting for her to speak her mind, but that never happened! I think I would have liked it better if it had. Then the other main character, Sarah was rude and obnoxious, but I actually liked her better! At least she had a personality. I am proud to say I finished the book, I did not quit in the middle although I was tempted.

The one thing this book did have going for it was there tons of great one-liners! The kind you want to write down so you can use years alter.
"Love your enemies; you made them"

"for a pretty penny, or maybe not pretty exactly, but a penny with a great personality" hahaha
A car passed us with a "Bears Stink" bumper sticker. "Is that referring to football or actual bears?"  "Football." I said

Read this book for yourself, obviously some people liked it. It was A New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year. It was just not my cup of tea.

 

Comments

  1. Sorry you didn't like the book but thanks for the honest review! I don't think I'll be reading it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bummer. The cover and title are so cute.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You're not the first person to not like this book. It's unfortunate because it does sound like it would be good.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts