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• An instant classic

  It’s not every day you finish a book that you think could become one of your favourite books of all time. Today is one of those days. I have just finished Lucy Ellmann’s wonderfully expansive, broad-shouldered epic, and am left bereft that, now the one thousand page one sentence is complete, whatever I read next will ultimately be a disappointment. My copy bears a provocative quote comparing the work to Ulysses, from that esteemed curator of literary excellence, Cosmopolitan. While this work has none of the intricacy, parody or depth of Ulysses, it is wrong to think of its qualities as in any way reductive. Unlike many modern novels which simply ignore or surrender attempts to stretch the form, Ellmann at least here is playing with the narrative structures and introduces welcome word-play that bring to mind the subtle leaps and change of tone that Joyce’s stream of consciousness pioneered. As a Joycean (and it is worth noting the Joycean connections – the author’s father wrote the renowned literary biography) I have to remind myself that there are (in my view, odd) people out there who don’t like Ulysses. But where Ulysses trips them up, confounds or confuses, Ducks, Newburyport however may very well be for them. It is generous and inclusive in way that represents the best traditions of the American novel; its mode of narrative – the falling thoughts of a mother in Ohio (plenty of commas but no full stops) encompasses Alec Baldwin, Trump, gun laws, gun atrocities, lionesses, Harrison Ford, cinnamon rolls, baking, motherhood, having children, losing parents, America, television, chickens, pollution, Dustin Hoffman, and much, much more. This is the kind of book that can be read again and again and again and new things will be noticed each time. The interspersing narrative, a lioness losing and searching for her cubs, provides some relief from the intensity and full-throttled speed of the main story, but each interlude serves to only heighten the appreciation and delight of the wonder and variety of language, sentiment and lemon-drizzle cakes of the housewife’s life. When it is over – and there is a shocking but appropriate climax – the reader is left feeling like a loved one has died, or at least this reader, temporarily felt that way.

• Product review.

  Pleasantly surprised to receive the book in perfect condition and that too at a lower price than usual. Expectations exceeded. Page quality, quality of the book everything is highly satisfactory...

• offset branco, mesmo?

  essa avaliação serve unicamente como um aviso sobre essa edição: ela é ruim. são cerca de 1030 páginas em papel offset branco, com encadernação simples, em formato 12 x 19cm, o que faz com que a partir da página 40 o livro se torne cada vez mais difícil de manusear. não tive em mãos a outra versão, a de capa azul, por isso não sei se ambas de equivalem, mas o fato é que essa da Biblioasis impressiona pela dificuldade que impõe à leitura. talvez nesse caso um e-book seja a melhor opção.

• Genius!

  Thought provoking, funny and relatable! I thoroughly enjoyed this work of genius, so much to take away from it! Was daunted at first but quickly can get into the rhythm, and it works really well. If you've been considering picking up this book, do it!

• Different and a Fantastic Experience

  This is so stylistically and structurally unique that I’d have probably gotten enough satisfaction just from those elements. But in the extreme stream-of-consciousness of our quintessential Ohioan housewife, there is a whole lot to unpack. It is somewhat difficult to read. Not because it’s like 8 run-on sentences separated with commas. But because within the stream, there are so many references to media and memories, and other associations. It’s emergent thinking. Not wholly unedited, of course. It’s self-evident there is a lot of writer craft at work to make this consumable. The sentence construction, the timing of the references, and the length of the sentences themselves, all signal to the reader when the natural breathing points are. And the references will send your own mind out on spirals that mimic the digressions of the protagonist, so you’ll naturally be pausing. I did sometimes get a bit too daydreamy and in my own head after some time though. I would take short breaks every 50 pages or so and then come back to it. And I think that’s sort of meant to be. The longer the text you’ve consumed percolates the more connections you’ll draw between things. And things do coalesce quite a bit; more than I’d expected, actually. There begins to be some reoccurring themes. Mostly, they center on modern anxieties such as gun violence, climate change, media consumption, political ramifications of Trump in office, pollution, the generational gap between herself and her kids, and death, in general. These all become the centrifugal force with which our housewife orbits continually, which then draws them in sharper definition. They end up encapsulating the 2017-2018 “moment” of life in western culture and the US incredibly vividly. And, later, the sort-of plot situates those subjects directly into the housewife’s life. There is masterful foreshadowing at work. It’s also just mesmeric and beautiful. Thoughts you’ve had, or ones like them, will appear from time to time, and those create a bond between the text and reader that rivals the empathy felt for other characters in other books, in my experience. Within the granularity, there is a universal human experience that resonates. Absolutely fantastic read and I think one I'd re-read in the future. Recommend it as an off and on side book with other goings-on. Take your time with it and be patient with yourself. It’s in no hurry (though the last 100+ pages will be gripping—I won’t say why).

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