A review by sloatsj
Why Did I Ever by Mary Robison

3.0

I found this manic and entertaining and ultimately worthwhile, although it was sometimes hard to get my hooks into it. The story is told as a series of short quotidian narratives by the character Money Breton, whose son has been the victim of some terrible sex crime, whose daughter is a recovering addict, and who herself seems to be under-medicated for ADD. There are a couple other key characters, including an imperfect boyfriend, a bitchy Hollywood boss, and the Deaf Lady, who was my favorite. The book is punctuated with some very funny moments, but it’s a case of the funny throwing salt on the sad. It is interesting how all these fleeting thoughts, observations and exchanges swell into a book and a plot. The ‘outtake’ format is at once engaging and disconcertingly choppy.

I have to say it isn’t one of my favorite books, but it was interesting to read both for the concept and execution.