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Stuff I'm Reading

 There is a neighbor of mine I dread; he is in no way objectionable. Every time I see him, he has an appropriate, innocuous remark, e.g., "How about this weather?" or "Gosh.....I can't find anything to do with this little guy on a half-day!" .....The reason I loathe these interactions is that they are so utterly banal. I feel myself gearing up for the performance, and I just want to scratch out my own eyes.


And so I appreciated the new (Holly Gramazio) novel, "The Husbands," which is about a woman who discovers that she has a magic attic. If her husband climbs up into the attic, a time-warp transformation occurs, and a new husband emerges. Because it's so easy to dispose of husbands, the protagonist realizes that certain things in this world--overlooked things--really, truly matter. It's a problem if your husband watches too many consecutive episodes of "Mindhunter." It's a problem if your husband wears sneakers with individual "toe pouches." And if he has cutesy baby words for standard household appliances. And if he happens to deploy this sentence: "Curious that you didn't tidy up in here, although you have been HOME ALL DAY....." Next, please!

The spectacular device Gramazio uses partly hides her main obsession, which is the tiny tics that make people memorable. The protagonist's sister has an annoying habit of offering unsolicited advice ("Stop drinking those vinegar *health* drinks"), but only when the protagonist's life is going well. The protagonist knows that she is deeply fucked if she observes her sister *withholding* all advice. Also, one partner, Amos, enjoys sitting in dark corners of bars and making snarky comments with the protagonist; this is enough to sustain the relationship until, suddenly, it is nowhere near "enough." A third character struggles with stressful situations; he hovers on the perimeter, and he offers, again and again, to "make a cup of tea."

I often felt like I was reading about my own life. I wasn't crazy about the ending, which seemed a bit arbitrary. But I laughed regularly, and I thought the climax was plausible and impressively tense. An entertaining book.
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