This book is not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. It's dark and amusing. It's set in a typical American suburb among the banal activities of such a place (e.g., town meetings), but one in which people are building pits and moats around their houses, filled with deadly objects or animals. Why? Not clear. The narrator is sympathetic (despite his involvement in the drawing and quartering of the ex-mayor), and you want to root for him for mayor, although that sympathy comes to a screeching halt at the climax. Overall, this is a quirky little book (a short and easy read) that captures attention and compels you to keep reading. It's dark humor is its allure, and it sneaks in some other interesting points along the way. Two thumbs up.

People either seem to love or dislike this book - which I can understand. Antrim, a MacArthur Genius, has been sitting on my shelf for some time. A critical darling, he has actually published very little. 3 novels (the last in 2000!), a memoir, and a slim collection of short stories (which leaves out 4 published in the NY'er). Also 7 articles, also only published in the NY'er. And none of the books come to much over 200 pp each. So, it is pretty easy to read his complete oeuvre.

His style and imagination is stunning - but not sure it all holds together with plot, even in this short novel. At times it does seem like he has added bits of story just because he thinks they are wonderful ideas he has to use. The biggest one for me in this novel is his wife and her connection to fish. Makes sense, a little bit - but not completely. OTOH, love his transitions in a book that has no chapters or breaks. The first I noticed was when he was talking of going to a Rotary Club meeting, and then they were there. The pages long paragraphs, or the detail of his directions (walk one block on Wisteria, take a left on Rose, walk two blocks to Tulip, take a right towards the water....).

And yes, the ending. Despite all the indications, I did not realize that this first person narrator was not just "quirky", he was out and out insane - until the very end.

I'll read more by him based on style, and his wry black humor. And also for the brevity of his "collected works".

Christ lol

First time reading Antrim, very 90s literary kind of stuff, pretty good, really a gentleman’s 4 (a 3.5)... one cool thing Antrim does is blow right past essential events that readers would expect to read with some sense of drama or signaled importance he goes right to how his characters react to that moment

I've never read anything like it. Progressively off, the novel descends into a subtle madness that you spend a lot of time unsure of. It's really well written, funny and dark. By the end I was immersed and didn't want it to end. Antrim is deeply unique.

not a major work but a consistently engrossing one that resonates in ways both strange and shockingly emotive. themes of indoctrination, ostracization, and the quiet violence of suburban resentment. antrim at his best