Author: Carol Muske-Dukes
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
Rating: WORTHY!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review.
This is a seminal novel, particularly in that it mentions the word seminal - nearly always in conjunction with fluid - some 31 times. That has to be a record outside of in-vitro fertilization hand-books (and perhaps even there, too).
This hilarious and tragic story was first Published in 1989. It's related by a 'Dear Abby' style editor, Willis Digby (her father wanted a boy). And no, she doesn't work for Seed magazine. Instead she works for a feminist magazine which has a circulation of some five million. Willis, the narrator, is not at all satisfied with her job and is concerned about some of the whack letters she gets, but this doesn't prevent her from being a smart-ass in her responses to some of them.
She's also concerned that she's going quietly nuts, so it's rather nice that she has someone with whom she can compare herself. She befriends a woman named Iris (as in seeing Iris), who is officially nuts, supposedly, and who starts writing to Willis about finding a certain fluid in her underwear each morning. She's convinced someone is raping her in the night, but of course no one believes her. Willis decides she will believe Iris.
Willis also receives threatening letters of a more or less vague quality, and she's rather foolish in not taking those a bit more seriously, as events demonstrate, but she gives an impressive account of herself when push comes to shovel. There exists a number of YA authors, as impressive as it is sad, who seriously need to take a page or ream from Carol Muske-Dukes's writing.
This novel is about relationships, about definitions of crazy, about a woman coming to terms with her life, and taking the reins. About time! I highly recommend it for its impressive story-telling, its humor, and the superior quality of the writing.
