Joy Fowlkes

I listened to this on audiobook which had a quite delightful narrative. The Midwestern accent really sold it. This is the best novel about food that I've read since Like Water For Chocolate. While they are nothing alike, I think this novel represents a food culture in the same way LWFC does. It's cyclical, acerbic, refreshing, luxurious... The perspectives are unique while still sharing a common wit. I will say that the pacing wasn't necessarily momentous, but it was really nice to enjoy this in breaths.

This was my first Zadie Smith novel, and while I found the writing extraordinarily beautiful, I was underwhelmed by the plotting. Books about the push and pull of female friendships can sometimes turn out this way. I was most impressed by Smith's observations and ability to bring a character to life.

I had grand expectations for this novel. I'd heard such wonderful things about Neil Gaiman, and was pretty astonished that he was so successful without me knowing so. When I'd read that the series was coming to TV, I knew that I needed to read it first. Let me say here first that I read the completely unabridged version, meaning that Gaiman inserted sections that were originally cut from the novel in its first print. My trouble with this novel is that it never felt as if it truly got started. One subplot would be underway just to be abandoned for another. It took me quite sometime to understand Wednesday's goals. I felt that there was some grand plan behind this novel, so that some mission would be unraveled and completed. And yet, everything felt completely unresolved. And when it was resolved, the subplot had been left cold for so long that I'd lost interest in it's conclusions. I do believe this book is ripe for cinema because of the long stretches of America that it covers. I hope though that some larger development comes of it. I'm interested to learn how The America when it was first published will meet with the America of today.