Actual rating is 4.5. Why? Because something is missing. Because the books I rate as five stars are ones that jolt me into wakefulness. This novel did move me, but it was a shift that is small, more of a reassurance than a rebirth. That is commendable in its own right.

The experience of reading this is refreshing. My initial thought was wariness given that the story does not have paragraphs, but I found that the narrative voice is compelling. Given this structure though, it makes it difficult to stop reading and it's a wonderful feeling to be hungry.

This novel also sparked a discussion with my siblings about how one should approach the act of reading an entire author's bibliography (though admittedly because of the text referenced, William Maxwell's The Folded Leaf). Is the best way to read chronologically from first work to latest to see the development of an author's philosophy? This is my view. Or to skip around, which is my oldest sibling's view. My brother just said he wouldn't read one author's entire body of work, but if he did, he would read from latest to earliest. Weird.

I always love a novel that references others and this one more so because of the alluded films which has me considering a MUBI membership...