I found this book by David Whitehouse while browsing a local bookstore in Bilkent a few weeks ago. I was hooked on the first line. I read hungrily for a few pages and then decided I would purchase it online. I tried, but could'nt find it. It was haunting me, so yesterday I hoofed it down the hill and puchased it. I read it straight through.
It is the story of a family anchored by a son who chooses to drop out of life and eats himself into a state of immobilized morbid obesity. This sad quirky collection of characters trapped in this remarkable co-dependent feeding frenzy slowly pulls back the covers on the longing, loving and failings of all families. While the scenario seems incredulous there is an undercurrent of normalcy running through it. You can't help but recognize fragments of your own life and family dynamics reflected through the shattered lens of Malcolm Ede's life.
Whitehouse is amazing. His writing is vivid and inventive, startling you with images that sear into your mind. Sometimes revolting, sometimes poignant, often hilarious, he stretches your imagination, tickles your senses and makes you wonder if you are really awake and paying attention to the way things look, smell and feel. I marvelled at the writing as much as I enjoyed the story. The art and the craft of his storytelling pushed me to race through it. But his fangs are deep into my heart...and my mind is wrapped around the story of Mal and the family caught in his self-imposed death spiral. Read it and weep, laugh, ponder....
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