Book 87: Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate AtkinsonHey, Kate. Hope you are well. It’s me – fan boy #1.
About that. I’d like to give myself a promotion. I want to be Fan Boy #1².
Yeah, that it . . . Fan Boy to the Second Power!
You rock. I rock. We rock!
Where is this excess of enthusiasm coming from?, you ask. And I answer, Kate, I just finished your most recent opus, Started Early, Took My Dog.
How do you do it? Seriously, that’s not a rhetorical question.
How do you do it?
I am so, like, gob smacked. A nice little mystery, all these interwoven story lines, a riveting narrative and vivid characters. (That’s apparently not a sentence, but I will let it stand.)
About your characters: I liked Courtney the best in this novel. The four-year-old. She reminded me a little of Regina from When Will There Be Good News.
Seriously, Time Magazine is putting Jonathan Franzen on its cover and, well, Jonathan is an OK guy, but they should give out a pair of scissors with each book. (Because his characters are cardboard cut-outs. Ha Ha, just a little literary humor. LOL.)
A little exposition, a pinch of description, a run of dialogue and your characters pop – POP – off the page.
Great title, too.
And, Kate, one more thing. Keep this between us. Our little secret. Your books make me laugh (that’s not the secret), but they make me cry too. I know it’s all paper and ink and fairy dust, but there are times I’m crying and laughing at the same time. Compelling is what I'd call it.
So . . . loved the book. Love you. (I kept flipping to the back of the book to look at your picture on the dust jacket. Even I find that a little creepy.)
OK, Fan Boy #1² needs to close. If you’re reading this, you’re not writing and I want you writing. I'm giddy just thinking about your next book.
No comments:
Post a Comment