2020 update: i have now read this book thrice and it gets better every time, like your favourite dessert.

***

i have never read anything like this before—and doubt i ever will. i’m quite sure the only good thing to be found here are the lovely descriptions of vermont—lovely enough to make me genuinely consider bennington’s MFA writing program just so i can live there. otherwise, it is pretty much a recipe for disaster.

every single character is loathsome. the plot reaches its climax about 30% in, yet the story lasts for over 600 pages. the writing goes from clumsy to purple to magnificent and back again almost seamlessly. i came out of the reading experience—because it is an experience, unlike anything i’ve ever felt before—almost smelling the scent of alcohol and cigarettes.

it is, quite definitely, the best book i have ever read.