A review by asteroidbuckle
More Than it Hurts You by Darin Strauss
4.0
I really liked this book. I was at the library for a meeting and during the break, I perused the "New Fiction" section (free time + a room full of books = nirvana for me). That is where I found this gem, whose hook - Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy - was enough to make me actually use my library card (which had expired due to non-use a month before).
Strauss' writing style is fantastic, although I did find myself needing a bit of time to adjust to the almost stream-of-consciousness way he writes his characters. Plus, he switches POV in the blink of an eye, which threw me off a little at first. But once I got used to it, the story really was great.
At its heart, it's a story about the lengths people will go to to maintain their idea of happiness and how self-delusion and a warped sense of happiness can sometimes clash with another person's idea of right and wrong.
Josh and Dori Goldin are young parents to little Zack, whose sudden, inexplicable illness shatters the young family's sense of well-being. Josh, an ad exec whose specialties are spouting bullshit and never seeing beneath the surface of things, can't admit that maybe his perfect life isn't as perfect as he perceives it to be. He's happy being in denial. Dori, phlebotomist-cum-devoted mom, is constantly on the verge of cracking at the first sign of imperfection in her life. Josh isn't being a good enough father, a good enough husband, and so she uses her child to "bring them closer." In other words, she hurts her own son to get attention and justifies it by convincing herself it's for the greater good of the family.
Enter Dr. Darlene Stokes - born to a teenage single mom who's also a single mom herself, not to mention a brilliant pediatrician who has the gall to suspect that Dori Goldin, perfect mom extraordinaire, may in fact be a Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy candidate. Of course, there are a few things that make Dr. Stokes the underdog - she's black (and therefore a reverse racist who's out to get the poor white parents), her father is an ex-con, and she's generally unlikeable.
This tale of deluded happiness weaves and winds its way to an end that's both frustrating and satisfying. It's frustrating because the one person whom the reader knows is doing the right thing isn't vindicated; satisfying because Josh, the perpetually sunny ostrich with his head plunged happily in the sand, finally opens his eyes and sees beneath the shiny superficiality of his life.
One thing, though: The side story about Dr. Stokes' father is largely superfluous, but it does play a vital part at the end. Beyond that, though, it's not really important to the story.
Great book. I highly recommend it.
Strauss' writing style is fantastic, although I did find myself needing a bit of time to adjust to the almost stream-of-consciousness way he writes his characters. Plus, he switches POV in the blink of an eye, which threw me off a little at first. But once I got used to it, the story really was great.
At its heart, it's a story about the lengths people will go to to maintain their idea of happiness and how self-delusion and a warped sense of happiness can sometimes clash with another person's idea of right and wrong.
Josh and Dori Goldin are young parents to little Zack, whose sudden, inexplicable illness shatters the young family's sense of well-being. Josh, an ad exec whose specialties are spouting bullshit and never seeing beneath the surface of things, can't admit that maybe his perfect life isn't as perfect as he perceives it to be. He's happy being in denial. Dori, phlebotomist-cum-devoted mom, is constantly on the verge of cracking at the first sign of imperfection in her life. Josh isn't being a good enough father, a good enough husband, and so she uses her child to "bring them closer." In other words, she hurts her own son to get attention and justifies it by convincing herself it's for the greater good of the family.
Enter Dr. Darlene Stokes - born to a teenage single mom who's also a single mom herself, not to mention a brilliant pediatrician who has the gall to suspect that Dori Goldin, perfect mom extraordinaire, may in fact be a Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy candidate. Of course, there are a few things that make Dr. Stokes the underdog - she's black (and therefore a reverse racist who's out to get the poor white parents), her father is an ex-con, and she's generally unlikeable.
This tale of deluded happiness weaves and winds its way to an end that's both frustrating and satisfying. It's frustrating because the one person whom the reader knows is doing the right thing isn't vindicated; satisfying because Josh, the perpetually sunny ostrich with his head plunged happily in the sand, finally opens his eyes and sees beneath the shiny superficiality of his life.
One thing, though: The side story about Dr. Stokes' father is largely superfluous, but it does play a vital part at the end. Beyond that, though, it's not really important to the story.
Great book. I highly recommend it.