Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post readers, to share these mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email bellis@denverpost.com.
ABSOLUTIONBy Alice McDermott336 pp. Farrar, Straus [Amp] Giroux. $28.
“Absolution,” by Alice McDermott (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2024)
Set largely in 1963 in Saigon, this novel depicts the lives of American civilians ostensibly working there to aid the Vietnamese, but – wink, wink – setting the stage for future American involvement in the country’s political and military affairs. Yet, the war remains on the periphery. The novel focuses on the relationship that develops between two young, idealistic American wives, who devise fund-raising schemes (Saigon Barbie dolls, anyone?) to support their altruistic projects to help the less fortunate natives. Unfortunately, the actualization of their schemes relies heavily on (exploits?) the work of unseen, overlooked natives, whose support and very lives are taken for granted with the aplomb of entitled children. In part an excoriation of the white savior attitudes prevalent in the mid-20th century, in part a coming-of-age story as one of our heroines sheds her innocence abroad, this novel offers a new take on the American experience in 1960s Vietnam. — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“Calypso,” by David Sedaris (Back Bay Books, 2019)
The funniest writer in the world? Many agree, and you’ll understand once you read this collection of 21 semi-autobiographical essays. They are hysterically humorous as always, and feature a strong streak of the author’s sensitivity and gloom. And why not? His mother’s alcoholism marked the household; a sister committed suicide; and the entire family is batty as they age and run into problems. A new vacation home stretches family bonds, while classic Sedaris humor addresses a Fitbit obsession, his stylin’ culottes, and removal of a noncancerous lipoma tumor. What do these have in common? Sedaris’ incomparable style. — 4 stars (out of 4); Bonnie McCune, Denver; bonnieMcCune.com
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (Penguin)
“Everything I Never Told You,” by Celeste Ng (Penguin, 2014)
How many times did my heart break while I was reading this book? From the powerful first sentence, this was a difficult book to read, but an impossible one to set aside. There are layers of distress — futile struggles to fit in, futile struggles to stand out, devastating loss, racism, loneliness, egregious communication, and earnest and loving intentions that go disastrously awry. Although each member of the Lee family has his or her own flaws, I still want to console and counsel them.
Celeste Ng’s second novel, “Little Fires Everywhere,” is serious and sardonic. By contrast, this debut exhibits no wry humor, only irony and misery, and finally redemption. Reading it is painful because of the events; pleasurable because of the grace and precision of the prose. Stick it out. — 4 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker