McSweeney's Rectangulars, 2009 (here)
The Convalescent by Jessica Anthony
McSweeney's Rectangulars, 2009 (here)
I'm fairly certain that these are the only two novels written in 2009 that I've read (or even own, for that matter). What's more, these two novels are probably poor representative samples: they're both from "the McSweeney's crowd." So maybe this isn't a completely fair statement, but why is it that the protagonists in contemporary fiction are so intentionally repulsive?
But, where Cotter's narrator tends toward the irredeemable, Anthony plays with her narrator's more repulsive quality as a way of making a his eventual transformation that much more poignant.
Sure, there's humor in Cotters unrelenting and disgusting descriptions, but there's little else, certainly there's no real identification. But the repulsiveness of Anthony's character is a device used for much more than humor. Of course, too, there's Anthony's impressive writing, the beauty stands in deliberate contrast to the mess of her main character.
Short reviews: Fever Chart is fun, if overdone and more than a little gross. The Convalescent is an excellent example of what one can do with a repulsive character.
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