The Wasp Eater

I finished this book in one day at work. I picked up this and a book by Anne Lamott to read on the 5 hour car ride to PA this weekend. Since I already finished this and am about 1/5 of the way done with the Lamott book....I better slow my pace.

The Wasp Eater was pretty decent. It's a story of a young boy, Daniel watching his parents' marriage finally crumble. Daniel's father is unfaithful to his mother and his mother is slowly breaking down. This is all seen through Daniel's eyes, a 10 year old boy. While you might expect the story to be depressing and dark, it's actually sweet and told with refreshingly clear honesty, through the eyes of a child. We see his mother's moments of temporary panic/insanity and his father's drunken, goofy, fun-loving yet destructive nature. You can relate to the misery of each of the characters and can understand the turmoil they feel in the situation. The story is so realistic that even in the climax, an event happens that you never would have been able to forsee, yet it still fits in appropriately.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. Even though I read through this in an entire day at work (actually, about 4 hours total), it wasn't just because I was bored and the office was empty, but it actually kept my attention the entire way through. A nice, short read. :)