Dear Listener,
Most people that know me know that I became a little obsessed with The Marriage Plot, writing multiple blogs on the subject, reading it multiple times, and giving it out as a gift more than half a dozen times. It sang to me on several levels, one of them pertaining directly to my age. A big portion of the plot for The Marriage Plot outlined the way twenty-somethings must realize that they do not, in fact, understand the world at all. College seems to have a tendency to bubble, giving the impression that the student does understand the world. It is that post-college period that is so difficult and life forming. Naturally there are other books written about the subject, not just The Marriage Plot. What is odd is there are two books, both published within the past couple of months, both paperback originals, both dealing with this very issue. I’m one who simply can’t help himself, therefore read both over the course of three days. 
Wichita by Thad Ziolkowski looks great on paper. It follows a young man named Lewis who graduates from Columbia University and moves home with his New-Ager mother in Wichita, Kansas, where she is starting a storm-chasing company and possibly a ponzi scheme. She is possibly in a polyamorous relationship. She has a man living in her backyard in a tent who may or may not be making LSD. Lewis’ brother is also living at Mom’s. The brother is bi-polar, prone to stripper friends, drugs, and risk taking, among other things. Lewis’ father’s side of the family is stubbornly intellectual. Basically the opposite of the house in Wichita. All of these things sounded interesting to me. I anticipated it to be a funny, trying, interesting read. For a while it even seemed that way, but the farther I got into it, the more I realized that Ziolkowski built a landscape for his protagonist to shine, but never formed a protagonist. Lewis turns out to be dull and heavily predictable. For a character so engulfed in an interesting setting, Lewis has no personality to speak of. The book turns right with the character, suddenly becoming bland and uninteresting. I don’t want to say Wichita was a bad novel, because it wasn’t. The writing itself is very fine, in most places flowing quite well. I don’t want to say that I hated or even disliked this book, because I really didn’t. It was, however, disappointing. I found myself disappointed. 
The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac by Kris D’Agostino looks, on paper, like a book I would love at sixteen years old. Calvin just dropped out of film school to move back in with his parents, his high school aged pregnant little sister, and his suit wearing, go getter brother. His little sister delays telling her parents about her pregnancy, probably because her father is out of work due to his cancer. Meanwhile, Calvin gets a job as an assistant teacher in a preschool for autistic children. I wasn’t hoping for much with this book. I was expecting a funny little romp that would contain very little maturity. Just like I overestimated Wichita, I found that I truly underestimated Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac. It was touching. The characters are very real and very endearing. I was following most of the story, but the last quarter of the book caught me completely off guard. I was stunned, saddened, irate, and filled with glee. I did not expect to feel anything when I opened the book, and I was wrong.
Read both. Disagree with me. But accept that sometimes books can surprise you and disappoint you and still make you happy.
I’ve been really digging Maps & Atlases’ newest album Beware and Be Grateful which came out a few weeks ago. It seems to me that “beware and be grateful” perfectly describes the art of reading. Below is their first official video from the album. Enjoy!
by Simon
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