Product Description

Customer Reviews (9)

One of my favorite novels of all time
I read a new book about every 4 days, in 2008 I've already read over 30, and this one is absolutely one of the best.
Sometimes it is hard to find something novel in a novel, however this book is captivating by its dedication to honest characters and realistic decisions, emotions and relationships in a rare situation (but still very real and believable situation).
Dozens of times during this book I got that unique euphoria from the author finally putting a rare, special feeling into words never previously expressed.
Like all great novels, the protagonists have flaws and the antagonists have virtues and Gowdy raises many interesting, important questions that go purposefully unanswered.
A beautiful, brilliant, endearing book that will stay with me for a long time and definitely on my list of books to re-read.

It'll Grow on You
This books start out rather slowly and works its way under your skin until the final chapters that will have you on the edge of your seat. I almost gave up at the beginning of this sleeper hit. I just couldn't get into it. It was kind of boring and reminded me of other child abduction books...until midway through when the author hits her stride. The pace quickens, the characters become more realistic and likeable, and the plot takes off. There are several flashbacks in the book which explain the motives of the characters; and the alternating chapters make for quick and interesting transitions. I would highly recommend this book for readers above age 14, as there are several references to pedophilia and a couple of graphic (not too graphic) scenes that might offend some readers. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would like to read more by this author.

Sooo creepy, and yet sooo deliciously good
An incredibly disturbing story of a pedophile, his codependent addict lover, and the object of their obsession: Rachel. Beautiful, artistic, intelligent, and kind... Rachel is an "angel"... and she's nine years old. She's used to getting attention from men, especially the customer's at the bar where he mother performs. Rachel is poor but satisfied. She has friends, a mother, and a landlord who cares for her. (This landlord may even care for her a little too much, as one character witnesses landlord molesting Rachel.) The story centers around the obsession everyday people have for Rachel. Women wonder if she's related to her homely mother. Men give her a lot of attention and affection. Rachel is oblivious to any sort of pervy-ness. Will her abduction change her? The resolution is surprising.

The story is a mix of the past and present. We learn a little about her mother's life, what potential she had until a one-night stand with a college student from NYC. We also learn about the pedophile's dysfunctional life: dead mother, distant father, young lover. Pedophile's first sexual encounter is disgusting, and yet brilliantly constructed by Gowdy. Both the past and the present are absolutely chilling!!!

That these characters rely on psychic premonitions is superb. They all look so pathetic, especially the addict who clutches her "psychic pouch" in hopes of holding on to her worthless boyfriend. We see mother and landlord clinging to their psychic visions in hopes of finding Rachel.

We're left to make our own judgments about the mother, mostly through dialogues with a talk show host and callers. Is her mother "bad' for not maintaining relations with Rachel's father? Was their one-night stand, the result of which is Rachel, so horrible? And what about the thoughts of the pedophile? He actually believes he is doing the right thing by kidnapping Rachel. He sees the mother as "bad" for taking Rachel to bars, allowing her to touch men, leaving her with a pervy (?) landlord, etc. Although kidnapping and pedophilia are foul, is the pedohpile correct in his assessment of the mother? Gowdy gives us many things to think about.

Oh yes, this book is warped. And that's what made it so interesting to read. Gowdy does not tie up loose ends with a pretty bow. You are left to wonder what exactly happened to all of the characters. And you want more, but, all good books must come to an end. Sadly, because I wanted to know more about Rachel. And the pedophile and his girlfriend. I wanted to know if the landlord was really a child molester and if he really was gay. I wanted to know every little detail about every character; they were like a bunch of really twisted, pathetic new friends.

Lacking alot..
I felt that this book lacked alot of depth and backstory for the characters. I tend to loan books to my friends and co-workers and this one I left on a plane b/c I felt it wasn't worth loaning out to anyone.

Obsessive, Unhealthy Love.....
In this story, author Gowdy cleverly hints early on that Ron, one of the main characters, has an unhealthy sexual obsession for this young girl Rachel. His girlfriend Nance believes Ron's actions, albeit illegal, are innocent intentions to protect Rachel from child molesters; however, Ron begins to behave in ways that not only stir Nance's suspicions, but also remembrances of her own childhood experiences. I believe this story exemplifies the bizarre manisfestations a person's mind goes through, when the line between reality and fantasy no longer exist for them. Unfortunately, I didn't see the connection of his relationship with his mom and how that affects his viewpoint of women, love, and ruined childhoods. The story is an easy read, suspenseful, disturbing. ... Read more

Product Description
The three daughters of the Field family, aged 17 to 19 are bound together by the love and protection of their fragile alcoholic mother and fear of their abusive father. In a family on the brink of madness, they learn to survive in a dangerously psychotic environment. First published in 1990, FALLING ANGELS is a gripping portrait of a family in trouble, by the author of the highly acclaimed MISTER SANDMAN. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Rarity!
Falling Angels is a rare novel. Well-developed characters, wonderfully compact prose, and a simple but interesting premise. If you read one book this year, read this one.

Innocent yet worthy
I absolutely loved this book....you feel as if you are a part of each of the sisters lives...the author really draws you into the story. It talks about all the little things that girls go through growing up that they probably would never dare tell you Wonderful book.....55555555 Stars.

"Snappy Dialogue, richly worded"
I loved this book. The three maincharactures of this book are sisters growing up in a very disfunctual family in the 60's.I caught myself laughing out loud so many times, at the authors use of humor during somevery un-humorous moments in the book.The characters are real, andreminded me of the different emotions I felt growing up.I think it is agift for an author to write of shrewd and tragic situations with a sense ofhumor at the same time.If you enjoy a book that "you cant putdown"...this is a book for you.I am excited to read more from thisauthor. ... Read more

Product Description
When she is nine-years-old, Louise Kirk’s mother disappears, leaving a note that reads only--and incorrectly--"Louise knows how to work the washing machine." It is not long before a strange couple and their adopted son, Abel, move in across the street. Louise quickly grows close with the exotic Mrs. Richter, but saves her stronger, more lasting affections for Mrs. Richter’s intelligent son. From this childhood friendship evolves a love that will bind Louise and Abel forever, and though Abel moves away and Louise matures into adulthood, her attachment grows dangerously, fiercely fixed.
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Customer Reviews (13)

Barbara's Best
I am a huge Barbara Gowdy fan and all because of reading The Romantic. Her writing is compelling and draws you into the characters life, dream and thoughts. The Romantic is a timeless tale of boy meets girl, but is unlike any story you've ever read. Louise isn't your typical girl but is relateable on so many different levels. Her instant love for Abel is beautiful to say the least yet sad at the same time with how helplessly devoted she is to him. This novel is a girl's bible to getting over a meaningful relationship of any sort. Read it if you've ever been heartbroken or want a good laugh or even a small cry. Five out of five no doubt.

I have very mixed feelings about this book.
It was such a tragically beautiful story! What made it wonderful is that it evoked such strong feelings and drew me into an emotional connection with the characters. However, it was way too sad and hopeless, and this made it difficult to endure. Louise had suffered so much loss in her life, and I would have liked to see some sort of happy resolution for her in the end.As well, I would have preferred to see Abel's life take a more positive turn.And I'd be remiss if I didn't add that the abortion storyline upset me greatly because of Louise's cavalier attitude towards it.

unaffecting "Romantic" limps to sappy predictable conclusion
By the time Barbara Gowdy drags readers through some three hundred pages of overwrought prose, she has long since wrung out every conceivable drop of sympathy we may have produced for her hapless protagonist, Louise Kirk.Dealt the unspeakable cruelty of childhood abandonment by her beautiful, remote mother, Louise never recovers, instead squandering her life on unrequited love.

Louise initially transfers her need for affirmation to an exotic neighbor who is the mother of an orphaned son, Abel; soon thereafter, Louise predictably falls in love with him.The quiet, introspective and excessively sensitive Abel never reciprocates, instead dangling crumbs of affection to the romantically-challenged Louise.Her unreciprocated love becomes the focus of this ill-paced, poorly integrated novel.

It doesn't take long to figure out that all will probably not end well for either Louise or Abel.Neither is a particularly compelling character; both have numerous unaddressed flaws.Instead of examining these character weaknesses, the author inexplicably has chosen to tell the story from three distinct tenses, the result of which causes the reader to know demise without reason, destruction without understanding.Just when one narrative strand captures attention, Gowdy abandons it for another.The result is an unsatisfying patchwork of a book, pretty from the outside, but insubstantial, much like bricks made without straw.

What is most disappointing is that Gowdy is a good writer who somehow became enamored with a shopworn theme and a distinctly unsatisfying means of explaining it.Those strong enough to endure countless pages of female weepiness, lassitude and submissiveness to fate will delight in Louise's character.Most of us will have long since forgotten the novel's powerful beginning and have screamed, many times over, for Louise to get a grip on her life.

Gowdy's initial pages, which explore the relationship between Louise and her icy Grace, are compelling and authentic.To be made insecure by a parent is one of the greatest hurts a child could experience.Grace's chiseled beauty and her manifest discomfort with marriage and motherhood inflict more than insecurity on Louise.The insecure child idolizes and fears her mother, and the subsequent abandonment on the child by itself would have made a powerful book.

Grace's squawk-like laugher, a "laugh that can shatter glass," matches her ability to hurt Louise.Though the mother soothes criticism of her daughter with indirect praise, Grace also "often dulled praise with an indirect wound."It is no accident that an already insecure child grows up to be a woman with little or no hope.Gowdy never seizes the opportunity to reflect on the child's loss, and this lack of sympathetic analysis results in a sadly unaffecting presentation of the legacy of loss.

"The Romantic" never lives up to its possibilities or its author's talents.Characters who ought to have been more fully developed, particularly Louise's diligent, betrayed father, fall of the pages.A story which ought have been told directly meanders through different time and spatial zones, leaving the reader exhausted and, even worse, disinterested.Beautifully turned phrases remind the reader of Barbara Gowdy's talent but only tease our emotional appetite, delicious psychological appetizers without a substantial meal.

In Hindsight
Almost three years ago I broke up with my college boyfriend. Decided that my independence didn't fit with his dependence. Since then, I've dated on-and-off but still haven't found another "one." Barbara Gowdy made everything clear to me. You love once, you'll always love. It's in your heart.

This was a difficult book to read because the emotions she exercised were so real. Setting down the book at points was necessary because I couldn't help but tear up.

Why did I like the book so much if it made me so sad? I don't know. It brought back reality like a defibrillator brings back a cardiac victim.

Reality. Right on.

One of the Best Books In A While
It has been a long time since I have been so taken with a novel as I was with Barbara Gowdy's The Romantic. The Romantic tells the tragic love story of Louise and Abel as they grow from two children who live on the same street in a Toronto neighborhood into adults fighting to find their places in the world, and their story could not be told more beautifully. Gowdy's writing reveals all of the quirks and habits of two everyday people that make them unique and wonderful, as well as the things that make them terrible. She brings poignancy to mundane moments, and the story is so well-crafted that it will leave you wanting more, and more, and more, even though the end of the story is revealed on the first page.

The main characters are human, and Gowdy shows them as such. They each have moments of brilliance and moments of failure and many places in between. At the end, you may not agree with them, but it is impossible not to love them like your own friends and family members.

The narrative is from Louise's perspective, and from chapter to chapter she switches from past to present. Some readers may find this jarring, but I found it to be surprisingly cohesive due to Gowdy's skill at bringing the reader back and forth without confusion. The changes in time add to the book's suspense, and with every flash back or forward in time, the reader is left wanting to find out what happened next, reading on more and more urgently to find out.

The Romantic has restored my faith that the art of the novel is still alive and well and living on your local bookstore's shelves. Any serious reader would be hard pressed not to love this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (57)

The White Bone
I read this book when it first came out back in 1998.At that point, I was still in middle school and had seen it featured at our library.Through the years I have often thought back on that book and while I couldn't remember precisely what it was about, I knew it involved elephants and for some reason had captivated me.Not too long ago I remembered the title and knew I had to read it again. After reading again, I can see why I was intrigued by the book, but didn't think it was anything completely spectacular.It is a novel about great sadness and I think that is what makes it stand out the most in my mind.

Mud (also known as She-Spurns, a name she rejects) is the adopted daughter of the elephant herd of the She-S's.A visionary, she has dreams sometimes of things that are going to happen, or things that are happening far away.She is newly an adult elephant with her first child growing inside her when a great drought comes to the land.To add to this hardship, massacres are occurring within the elephant herds as they are being hunted for their tusks and feet.Whole herds are being decimated at one time due to ruthless hunters.

In spite of this, the elephants have hope.A great male elephant named Tall Time has brought word of a mysterious relic.This relic is known as the White Bone and is said to hold great power.It can lead them to the Safe Place where at least they will be protected and unharmed by the vicious poachers.Trying to find this bone and get to the safe place is another matter entirely however and proves to be difficult.Mud knows she must get there and help her friends at all cost, but with everything against them along the way she is no longer certain they will all get there alive.

The characters in this novel can't be rated like other characters.They are elephants.And while they are somewhat anthropomorphic they are definitely written as an alien creature with dreams, stories, and personalities all their own.Mud in particular, is an interesting being in that she has mixed feelings about everything and is a bit of a loner.In most elephant herds this is unheard of.It makes her unique in a story already full of strange characters.

The writing takes some getting used to in this.The elephants are able to talk through their minds and all the different herds of elephants have their own naming system.Not to mention that other animals have their own names and thoughts that are translated through the elephants speech.It can become very confusing at times.Despite this, Gowdy manages to convey a deep sense of depression and sadness in this book.The plight of the elephants is not a happy one and there are plenty of descriptions and happenings to remind the reader of this.Some of the language in this book is very descriptive.To a weak stomached or sensitive reader I would advise being careful as there are talks of eating feces, elephant's sexual parts, and other more squeamish subjects littered substantially throughout the entire book.Looking at it from an elephant's standpoint there is no need to be squeamish, but for us who are not elephants the language is a little more taboo.

One complaint I would have about this book is that the second part of it drags quite a bit.While its supposed to simulate the elephant's searching, it becomes repetitive and boring after awhile.I would have liked to see more interaction between the herds and matriarchs of the elephants or something to fill the void in which they are continually wandering.

Overall though this book makes the reader truly feel sorrow.Its a tough subject and hearing it directly from the elephants themselves is even more heartbreaking.This is not a good book for cheering a person up, but it is a good book for gaining a different perspective on life.

The White Bone
Copyright 1998
330 pages
Also includes a map, term explanation and family tree.

NOT Watership Down!
I love elephants.Anything with an elephant on the cover tends to get my attention.That having been said, I usually find the actually story a let down, especially if it is fiction.Not in this case.Rarely have I never been so moved by any book.And please understand, I read a LOT and I am not easily moved by anything.This book though, was a whole different herd of elephants from what I expected, and every time I thought I knew where the story would go, it went somewhere else even more glorious and more horrific than I could have believed.It is also important to know that this is not a pretty story.There are no happy endings and no neatly tied packages at the end.There are no "Watership Down"-esk moments of heroism found and peace gained.Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way, and this is the story of life.Just not the way you would expect.

Tried to read twice....
I love elephants. I think they are wonderful creatures with great heart and soul, however, I didn't like this book. The strange thing is...I can't put my finger on why I don't like the book. I've tried twice to read it and put it down both times.

Reading Helplessly
This brilliant book is not for the faint-hearted, as the other reviews will tell you. On the other hand, I picked it up to read a bit, to take a break from three other books I planned to finish before I read it, and sixteen hours later I finished it, having only put it down to sleep. The elephant lore, and the sense of knowing an alien consciousness, are overwhelming. The story is as grim as it could be, yes, but it is also beautiful and the sense of doom is lifted by its beauty.

Halfway through, I found myself thinking, "This is what it's like: extinction." If you know the news you know there can be no happy ending, except in dreams. The White Bone is as filled with reality as with dreams. Maybe it's too late to save the elephants, or the planet. But here is a memorial to what paid for our greed. And when the She shakes us off, at last, the wonder will begin again, no more halted than it was by meteor strikes or the excesses of dinosaurs. Earth was not made for us, this book reminds us.

I had no idea it would be this good
I went into a bookstore several years ago when I was in a terribly sad mood. A worker asked if she could help me and I told her I wanted the most heartbreaking book in the store. She gave me The White Bone. I was so put off- elephants? Come on. She insisted. I bought it and she was right. It ripped my heart out. It's a hard sell though! I want everyone to read it but no one wants to because it's about elephants. But when they do, they are mezmorized. It is one of the most fascinating books I have ever come across and I am an avid reader. You wish you could be reading it while you're driving, you cancel plans to stay home and read! It's that good. ... Read more

Product Description
Whether expounding upon the dilemma of a two-headed man who attempts to expunge his own pain, the shock of a woman who discovers she has married a transsexual, or the bizarre predictions of a female necrophile, these stories convince readers with incisive detail, only to disarm them suddenly with black humor. The title story of this collection has been made into the motion picture Kissed, which was a hit at the Toronto Film Festival.Amazon.com Review
From the author of the blockbuster Mister Sandmancomes a gathering of unusual characters captured in the outrageous andhumorous situations for which Barbara Gowdy has become famous. Teasingthe taboos, Gowdy creates a marriage dialogue between a woman and hertranssexual fiancé, who she thought was a man, and litigationbetween Samuel and Simon who share the same two-headed body. Shepeoples her stories with Siamese twins, a necrophile, and apathetically lonely exhibitionist. And she brilliantly illustrates howuncomfortably close a connection comedy has to human suffering. Thetitle story has been adapted into a movie called "Kissed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

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There are fantastic stories in here like the beautiful necrophiliac or the two headed man personifying good and evil, but my favorite story was the one about the foster children.Gowdy told the story in a beautiful and loving way that made it far more arresting then other pieces I've read like it in which the authors try to be shocking.

Can necrophilia be heroic?You bet!
If you have ever had romantic yearnings for a corpse, or imagined a prom queen boning ('scuse the pun) some embalmed remains, this books is for you.I have never experienced a mental pathology in a way that made me so wistful and contemplative, so empathetic and receptive and alive.Give it a try!This book will open you petal by petal, to the sun.

Gowdy's a master at making the unusual
An utterly amazing collection of short stories, many of which are related to one another, so they fit well together as a group.She has a knack for taking the most unusual or unconventional characters and situations and making them seem so realistic and sympathetic.One thing that always strikes me is that she seems to care about her characters so much.Despite their flaws, despite their outright freakishness at times, she, because of her affection for them, is able to convey to the reader their fundamental humanity.As a result, the focus is taken away from whatever makes them different, and we are instead drawn to see the similarities between them and ourselves.

Some images from this book will stay with me forever.Silvie and Sue as well as Simon and Samuel, two sets of siamese twins, each with their own story, for example.Incomparable characterization, simple but profound writing style, this book is absolutely unforgettable.

And, if I can sneak in another recommendation, check out "Mister Sandman" by the same author - as much as I loved this one, that one's even better!

Divine
I picked this book up on a whim, and discovered a jewel. The stories humanize those made inhuman by society and its constraints, and at the same time show the deeply ingrained pain they endure due to their differences. For those who enjoy Katherine Dunn's darkness (so stunningly seen in Geek Love), this book should be your next read.

Terrifying and beautiful
Though Sandman and White Bone are also very good, We So Seldom Look on Love is still my favorite. Gowdy somehow reminds me of Flannery O'Conner. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It was really good
This book was really good! The back says: "Forbidden Love in a Hate-Torn Land For many years the Moabites and the Isrealites have been bitter enemies. When Ruth, a beautiful Moabite maiden fell in love with agentle metalworker form Bethlehem, she defied a mighty pagan dynasty tobecome his wife.By marrying the hated foriegner, Ruth became andoutcast in her own country-but she gained an enduring love for herhusband`s people and their faith... ... Read more

Product Description
Barbara Gowdy’s outrageous, hilarious, disturbing, and compassionate novel is about the Canary family, their immoderate passions and eccentricities, and their secret lives and histories. The deepest secret of all is harbored in the silence of the youngest daughter, Joan, who doesn’t grow, who doesn’t speak, but who can play the piano like Mozart though she’s never had a lesson. Joan is a mystery, and in the novel’s stunning climax her family comes to understand that each of them is a mystery, as marvelous as Joan, as irreducible as the mystery of life itself. In its compassionate investigation of moral truths and its bold embrace of the fractured nature of every one of its characters, Mister Sandman attains the heightened quality of a modern-day parable.Amazon.com Review
This riotous account of "the family unit" was a smash hit inEurope, Canada, and England. In the Times Literary Supplement,author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid'sTale) praised Barbara Gowdy's novel as surprising and delightful,containing moments "at the same time preposterous and strangelymoving." The Canary family guards many secrets, including the mysteryof tiny daughter, Joan, who was dropped on her head at birth and hasnever spoken. Joan plays the piano like Mozart, yet has never had alesson. The outrageous hilarity rises into a climax that creates astunning new definition of family togetherness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

"'The truth is only aversion.'" - Sonja Canary
In this beautifully written novel, the reader is introduced to each member of the Canary family.Early on it becomes clear that a great deal of how this unconventional family functions is through deceit.At first, it seems like this is a family doomed to destruction and angst.Afterall, the truth can only be buried so long.And, don't most contemporary novels featuring highly dysfunctional families end sadly?

Happily, in "Mister Sandman", what ultimately shines through each character's obvious flaws is a genuine love, protection and devotion to each other that is endearing and comical.Joan, the family's ethereal and mute youngest member, becomes the sounding board to whom the rest of the family divulges their secrets.She is a silent observer, a gravitational force that pulls the family inward and keeps it together.Later, she is also the catalyst for moving everyone together towards greater honesty with themselves and each other.

In Nancy Pearl's "BookLust", "Mister Sandman" is recommended as a "Coming Out" novel.Gowdy's story is indeed frankly sexual.But whatever a reader's comfort level with honest sexuality, I have seldom read a book with stronger characterizations, whose every sentence - nee, every word - is purposeful, thoughtful, and necessary to the story.

Though this is a family inherently averse to truth, it is their duplicity that gives them authentic dimensionality.While their dishonesty is never overtly approved of, neither is it the means to the Canary's destruction.

"Mister Sandman" reminds me of John Irving's early books minus the angst.I definitely want to read more of Gowdy's books.I recently purchased "The White Bone", a story told from the perspective of an elephant.With such far-reaching literary abilities, Gowdy deserves to become better-known in the United States.

"Mister Sandman" was an absolute pleasure to read.Despite such a vastly odd cast of characters and strange family mix, this is an uplifting story of a family whose devotion to each other rises above everything else.

"They could be a family spending a day at the beach together.If they were on a beach.If it was day."

An All-Time Favorite!
This book is fantastically quirky in a way which blends familial strangeness, hilarity, and utter human empathy to create a mini-masterpiece of many fabulous characters, their loves, secrets, lies, and travails.There are few books I find myself returning to my bookshelves to read each year, and this one is among the few.It never ceases to entertain me! If you enjoy quirky seriocomedy, pick this up!

Strange and dysfunctional family, but good characters
Gowdy has quite an imagination.This is the most dysfunctional family I've read about (right up there with "Fall on Your Knees").There is homosexuality, promiscuity, lies, secrets, and the silent Joan, who is the youngest daughter, thought to be brain damaged but extremely intelligent, and aware of her families betrayals in her own way.

I am still trying to decide if I liked this book.The characters were interesting and they did draw my interest. But the story is way out there...certainly not a mainstream read.Gowdy's style confused me a bit at first by changing timelines often, and once that settled down I could follow the plot much easier.

An interesting and somewhat shocking read...not sure that I would recommend it to others.

A breath of fresh air in a world of dysfunction-lit.
Barbara Gowdy, Mister Sandman (HBJ, 1996)

Mister Sandman was a Publishers' Weekly Best Book of 1996, and it's easy to see why. Gowdy's third novel (andfourth book) is an engaging look into a world the is both completely warped and so close to the surface of reality that sometimes it's hard to remember that what's on thepage is fiction.

Mister Sandman is the story of the Canary family, who are your basic everyday family. At least, they would be iflife were a David Lynch film. Gordon, the patriarch, is a closet homosexual in a house full of women. (Perhaps it's more odd that he isn't a transvestite than it would be if hewere.) His wife Doris is exploring her own enjoyment of the members of the fairer sex. They have three children: Sonja, fat, housebound by choice, and rich from her job as apin clipper; Marcia, somewhat nymphomaniacal, able to converse with the aphasic; and Joan, dropped on her head as an infant, considered brain-damaged by her doctors andfamily but actually a genius. Joan, we find out in the first few sentences, is actually Sonja's daughter, but for the sake of propriety (Joan is born in the latefifties), she's passed off as one of Gordon and Doris'.

The book looks at the life of the family, mostly as it relates to Joan, but also in other snatches at various timesin their lives (Sonja's seduction by Joan's father, Gordon's lovesickness over a redheaded plumber, etc.). Joan's inability to speak and propensity to spend her time in smalldark places makes her the perfect confessor, and we spend our time snickering at the revisions the pentitents make when they get to the alter. Joan, though, is a bit toosmart for them, as the book spends its time making clear. How she ends up making it clear is truly a beautiful scene, and quite worthy of the accolades from PW. I don't think itwould be too much of a plot spoiler to say that the book's climax takes on Biblical proportions.

Gowdy's reputation in America didn't start growing until the novel after this, The White Bone. Thus, some Americanswho are already familiar with her may have missed this little gem, I urge you to take a step back and give it a look. Those unfamiliar with Gowdy who like their family sagasmore insane than dysfunctional are sure to get a kick out of it. Highly recommended. ****

Sometimes funny, possibly disturbing
I was suggested this book by Amazon's recommendations engine and then was convinced by all the 5 star reviews to add it to my wish-list.So then I got if for Christmas and finally got to it a couple weeks ago.

I wouldn't call it a waste of time.There are some very funny parts (mostly in the beginning and the end) and it's definitely unique. But...the story didn't really hold together well for me.It was more like a bunch of short stories set in the same place, as Gowdy takes one character at a time and exposes their strange (though I'm sure more common than most people think) lives.I wasn't disturbed by the amount of sexual material in the book but anyone that thinks this book is about some cute, angelic child should definitely beware.

Another reviewer mentioned purpose and resolution. I would have to agree, the ending didn't really explain much or give you any idea about the future of the family members.I don't think there really was a point Gowdy was trying to get across, unless it was "life is stranger than it looks at a glance". ... Read more

Product Description
The Canary family are unlike any other. Joan is exquisite, tiny, mute, plays the piano like Mozart and lives in a closet. Marcy is a nymphomaniac, while Sonja earns a fortune clipping hair-grips to cardboard and knits compulsively. Their parents keep their own habits secret for as long as they can. ... Read more