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Saturday, September 25, 2004 :::

Little Children by Tom Perrotta

Rating:

Why I read it: because the premise was intriguing and the author wrote the inspired "Election"

What I think about it: It basically confirms and explores what I've always imagined to be true: typical modern day suburbia and married life can be a choking, suffocating trap punctuated by mundane routine and abandoned dreams. But it also explores the characters in this setting as being extremely human, fallible, prone to bouts of self-delusion, and therefore completely intriguing. The story basically follows a few couples in their early thirties and dissects the expectations they all had about their married suburban lifestyles, and then follows them through adulterous relationships and ill-conceived attempts at regaining lost feelings of youth, with some pretty hilarious observations. Throw in a child molester to create some pretty effective tension and some clever writing that often makes you laugh out loud, and you've got a pretty entertaining read. Honestly, it's not breaking any new ground in terms of exposing the outward artificiality of the suburban dilemma, and it's not too deep, but the details are sharp, and the ending is realistic, honest and satisfying. Also, it's got a little too much football in it for my tastes, but at least it served the story.

Oddly, my cover has two goldfish crackers facing each other on a field of perfectly trimmed grass, but the cover has since been changed to two half-eaten chocolate chip cookies, which somehow doesn't have the same effect. I wonder if Pepperidge Farms got pissed or something.

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::: posted by dan at 1:29 AM :: #