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A review by kathleenww
Making Nice by Matt Sumell
4.0
I'm not sure why I went ahead and decided to read this book. Something about the description must have captured me, but the opening chapter turned me off. i put it down for a few days, but then I kept reading. And I laughed. I laughed out loud! And I felt compassion and even an affection for the crazy narrator, Alby, as well as for his family. I was also inspired to keep reading since I grew up on Long Island, which is the main setting for this story. So the book had a couple of things going for it, including the fact that i found myself laughing out loud quite often.
Alby is an angry young man--think Holden Caufield meets a straight David Sedaris--he is disillusioned, and from a highly dysfunctional but loving family,grieving over the loss of his mother and trying to deal with the inability of his dad to cope with the loss. Their family is dysfunctional to start with, as so many families are. Alby drinks, fights, and is almost completely unable to control his impulses to do and say the whatever comes into his head. He is clearly a man of actin. But he is also a very sensitive person. When you get to know Alby, you might even like him. Many people do. And he is also someone who is has a natural love for the helpless and the hurt.
Don't expect an amazingly written and beautiful novel, but this might be something you could take a chance on. The writing reflects the gritty nature of a family that has experienced great loss and pain, reflected in one family member. Alby is funny, angry, horrible, and lovable all at the same time. you might even need a tissue. The honest story makes up for the lack of polish in the writing, and was actually suitable, since Albvy is anything but polished. I'd give Mr Sumell a chance again.
***LANGUAGE ALERT!!!***
If you are easily offended by bad language, or base talk about sexual acts, this is NOT the book for you. Do not read this. If you can accept that some characters (and people) use this language as a regular part of their vocabulary, and that it is part of what makes this book work, than you may do okay. I had a hard time when I first started reading the book because of this language, but then you see who he is, and how it is necessary to understand the narrator.
Alby is an angry young man--think Holden Caufield meets a straight David Sedaris--he is disillusioned, and from a highly dysfunctional but loving family,grieving over the loss of his mother and trying to deal with the inability of his dad to cope with the loss. Their family is dysfunctional to start with, as so many families are. Alby drinks, fights, and is almost completely unable to control his impulses to do and say the whatever comes into his head. He is clearly a man of actin. But he is also a very sensitive person. When you get to know Alby, you might even like him. Many people do. And he is also someone who is has a natural love for the helpless and the hurt.
Don't expect an amazingly written and beautiful novel, but this might be something you could take a chance on. The writing reflects the gritty nature of a family that has experienced great loss and pain, reflected in one family member. Alby is funny, angry, horrible, and lovable all at the same time. you might even need a tissue. The honest story makes up for the lack of polish in the writing, and was actually suitable, since Albvy is anything but polished. I'd give Mr Sumell a chance again.
***LANGUAGE ALERT!!!***
If you are easily offended by bad language, or base talk about sexual acts, this is NOT the book for you. Do not read this. If you can accept that some characters (and people) use this language as a regular part of their vocabulary, and that it is part of what makes this book work, than you may do okay. I had a hard time when I first started reading the book because of this language, but then you see who he is, and how it is necessary to understand the narrator.