This is the first of several book reviews that I will be posting. I requested that people recommend books for me to read and I would read each of them and do a review. I should have laid out better rules. Like nothing so depressing that I might have a strong desire to jump off of a bridge or cry for 24 hours. However, I did not make that rule, so I live with the consequences.
Also, I will be discussing this book in detail, so if you do not want to know what happens, do not read this review.
This is the story of Dolores Price, a girl who starts out like the rest of us, our parents love her and one another. Then things go from bad to worse for poor Dolores. Her dad is basically prostituting himself and her mother knows it. He eventually leaves his wife for some one else, causing Dolores' mother to go into a tailspin and end up in the mental ward at the hospital. Dolores goes to live with her overly serious, prickly grandmother. Who doesn't seem to understand that women aren't just maids for men. Dolores' mother eventually gets out of the hospital and comes to live with them. Her mother is trying to find her place in the world. She has no skills or education, but has to find a way to support herself and her daughter. She also realizes that she is a woman with needs and isn't afraid to fulfill those needs. Dolores does not understand any of this. Of course, she blames her mother for her father's bad behavior. And her father is too involved with his new woman to worry about Dolores.
The grandmother has a multi-family home. She rents the upstairs to a young couple. Everyone loves them. They are cute and sweet and the guy is a real charmer. He ends up raping poor Dolores. Eventually, we find out that Dolores' mother was screwing him. The couple moves away in the night. He walks away to most likely go rape some other poor kid. The mother, feeling guilty, allows Dolores to sit on her ass, watch TV and eat anything and everything. Of course, Dolores is also suffering from severe depression and doesn't want to do anything else. She graduates from high school at 257 pounds. She has a fight with her mother and that night, mom gets killed. What are the freaking odds of all of this happening to 1 person? Christ, Dolores is like a lightning rod of bad luck. I read another review of this book and some one called it a hilarious coming of age story. WTF?! It had a few dark jokes, but mostly it made me sad. If you have never suffered from depression, you might view this book differently than someone who has. Anyone who has ever suffered from depression could relate to Dolores and her need for food, TV and a nice comfy chair. Dolores ends up attempting suicide her first semester of college and ends up in a mental institution for years and then a half-way house. Her psychiatrist actually does rebirth therapy on her, which seems to work. Remember this from the 80s? Someone told me they remember seeing it on Oprah. Of course, he doesn't use the mattress like they did on Oprah, but a swimming pool, which seems less crazy to me.
Dolores is obsessed with her college roommate's old boyfriend, who she hunts down and manages to marry. In the end, she was obsessed with the person she thought he was. And possibly the person he should make her. He ends up being a shithead, too. Poor Dolores can't seem to meet any people that don't want to use and abuse her. Anyway, her grandmother dies and she moves back into her house. At this point Dolores has lost weight and gotten her shit mostly together. But after leaving the hubby and moving into grandma's house, she goes back to her old ways. The TV becomes her best friend again. Until, the neighbor lady, who has Parkinson's forces her to wake the hell up and get out of the house. Eventually, Dolores meets a nice guy and has a mostly good ending. At the end of this book, Dolores is almost 40. I have to admit that while it seems a lot of stuff happens to Dolores, she faces what most of us face growing up. We realize that our parents are human, that they have needs and desires just like we do. Most importantly, that we all need hope. We expect others to make us happy, but eventually we have to face the fact that we have to create our own happiness.
Let me just say that Wally Lamb climbed into a woman's head like I have never seen a man do. There were a few times that I had to remind myself that this was not an autobiography. It was a book that definitely made me stop and think more than once. So, read it. Even if you now know how it ends, it's worth a read. Just don't read it if you are already depressed.
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