Read Recently #3:

Little Children by Tom Perrotta

Backstory: I had been keeping a slight eye on Tom Perrotta since enjoying Election, the film adaptation of his novel. When I heard him on Fresh Air a few months ago talking about his latest, it raised an antenna and I ended up buying the book in a fit of hardcover lust. Reading it rather than shelving it was me trying to justify that indiscretion.

Notes: Perrotta is an amazingly skilled writer. Although he doesn’t really give his characters voice beyond his own, his narration isn’t intrusive but rather, just over your shoulder. It’s a resigned whisper, perfect for the vaguely empty suburban stage where the story plays out. In it, two couples with young children contemplate infidelity and succeed on a knot of unexpected levels. There’s a former child molester in the neighborhood as well, which grounds the novel in the present day hysteria of Megan’s Law and raising kids in a world where “anything can happen” if you really want you imagination to go there. By description it’s Updike/Moody territory, educated white people bored with being educated white people and curious about out-of-bounds play. But unlike their verbal acrobatics–a strained attempt to squeeze meaning from novels about people who lack it-Perrotta’s language in deft, confident, and sad, a storyteller’s voice interested in entertaining rather than wowing you. His ending sputters out and left me unsatisfied. But the novel that preceeded it was like a hearty meal and a nap afterward.

Verdict: Although you’ve got to find around what happens to everyone, the ending probably won’t do it for you. Knowing that, read on. This is a great book.

UPDATE: Fresh Air has just named it one of their Favorite Books of 2004.

• Category: Reading and Books