2005 book 83

adrienne miller's the coast of akron
deciding to take a break from harry potter for the time being, i picked up the top book on my to-read pile, which was this. unfortunately, i really didn't like it much. it has four main characters: a divorced couple, their daughter, and his lover. the first half was promising--the daughter was a pretty interesting character, sort of morally bankrupt but still sympathetic, and part of the book features her mother's diaries (my favorite part)--but in the second half, the third voice in the book--that of the lover--becomes more prominent, and godDAMN is he annoying! a delusional, syncophantic, quivering mess of a man with no appealing qualities whatsoever . . . of course, the artist father of the clan is also a jackass, but he's not narrating the book. also, i think whininess is more annoying to slough through than cockiness. in the second half, the daughter becomes less appealing as well, but at least her mother is still a pretty awesome character. anyway, the point is, i had to keep taking breaks from reading this b/c it was so annoying (the worst bits are the loooong imagined articles the lover creates for himself).