Exploring Uncharted Territory: My Quest for a New Experience

I embarked on this reading journey with the desire to broaden my literary horizons, stepping out of my usual mystery genre comfort zone. Unfortunately, my expectations of loving or even liking this book were not met. Lorrie Moore's "I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home" proved to be a challenging read for me, and I couldn't fully connect with its narrative.

In my quest to explore diverse literary experiences, I discovered a podcast where Lorrie Moore herself discussed this novel. She openly acknowledged its departure from the conventional structure and plotlines often found in commercial novels, emphasizing the freedom that authors of literary fiction have to explore unconventional narrative approaches.

The story is set in 2016 and centers around Finn, a high school history teacher with a penchant for conspiracy theories. The novel commences with his conversations with his terminally ill brother, Max, occupying the first third of the book. The remainder of the story follows Finn on a surreal road trip with his deceased girlfriend, Lily, who has seemingly returned from the grave and is not yet ready to find her final resting place. Their interactions, often tinged with dark humor, take place as Lily undergoes decomposition before ultimately settling into her eternal rest.

Woven into the narrative are diary entries dating back to around 1870, authored by an innkeeper named Libby or Eliz. These entries provide a historical backdrop, detailing the aftermath of the Civil War, and reveal that Libby, too, engages in extensive conversations with a deceased individual.

In essence, "I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home" is an unconventional literary work that delves into themes of love, death, dying, grief, and challenges the reliability of historical accounts. While this book may not resonate with every reader, it undeniably offers a unique and thought-provoking narrative experience.

If you're intrigued by the unconventional and are willing to give it a try despite my personal misgivings, you can access the book by clicking the link below.

kinsa's review

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dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

aarikdanielsen's review

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

4.25

jenvini's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

There are a bunch of little pockets of brilliance that had me rereading paragraphs just to absorb the words better. The very last passage is also wonderful. But the dialogue between Finn and Lily made me want to dissolve sometimes, and the pacing really bogs down everything good the story has going for it until the last third.