We Need to Talk About Kevin

Finally finished the novel, We Need to Talk About KEVIN by Lionel Shriver. My good friend, Jennifer, loaned it to me ages ago and said it was a must read. Now, I'm not sure if I should thank her or hit her. It was a very disturbing account of a ficticious high-school mass-murder, much like that of Columbine, except the story is told entirely from the point of view of Kevin's mother, in an endless series of letters to her estranged ex-husband. Initally a slow read (I'd read a chapter/letter and put it down), once I actually got into it, I couldn't really put it down. And truthfully, the further I got along -- especially the last 50 pages, the more I couldn't wait for it to finally end. But I have to say the final chapter and the final page caught me completely off-guard. I love that! Anyway, I'd recommend it to anyone. Not a fun read but a profound literary experience.

Trust, my next book, by one of my all-time favourite authors, Augusten Burrough's POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS is much, much lighter fare.