"Casebook" is a novel about spying. A little boy discovers that he can pick up an extension in his bedroom and listen to covert conversations. (I can't recall how the issue of his breathing is handled.)
The boy quickly learns that his parents have not really had sex in a decade; a divorce ensues. The boy, Miles, isn't ready for this; he resents learning about his mother's sexual neurosis and observing awkward moments in his mother's dating life. (One boyfriend can remember every birthday, every detail. By contrast, Mom can't remember which region of the U.S. this boyfriend was born in.)
At the same time, the boy is growing up and navigating his own romantic drama. He has a friend who is more or less available to him, but his real love is for a damaged kid who is likely bad news and who won't give him any attention. As the boy becomes increasingly interested in his mother's problematic new crush, he begins a cartoon entitled Our Psychopath. He hires a PI to spy on the shady boyfriend.
What follows isn't the world's most original plot. We can see where the psychopath is headed. At the same time, there are grace notes that I really like. The psychopath talks ad nauseam about his love for animals, so Miles tortures him by rescuing abandoned animals and depositing them in his (the psychopath's) backyard. Also, Miles makes a killing at his suburban prep school by buying his housekeeper's homemade soup, marking up the price, and reselling it out of his locker.
Some people (The Washington Post) loved this novel, and others (Michiko Kakutani) only half-loved it. I was a fan. The writer, Mona Simpson, invents flawed people and follows them through time; they change bit by bit in ways that never seem hackneyed. Simpson is a genuine artist, uninterested in trends, and I think she is worth reading.
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