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13th out of 16 books
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A Crime in the Neighborhood
An auspicious debut novel by a young writer who will remind readers of Anne Lamott and Anne Tyler
Crime in the Neighborhood centers on a headline event-- the molestation and murder of a twelve-year-old boy in a Washington, D.C., suburb. At the time of the murder, 1973, Marsha was nine years old and as an adult she still remembers that summer as a time when murder and her ow...more
Crime in the Neighborhood centers on a headline event-- the molestation and murder of a twelve-year-old boy in a Washington, D.C., suburb. At the time of the murder, 1973, Marsha was nine years old and as an adult she still remembers that summer as a time when murder and her ow...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
July 15th 1998
by Owl Books
(first published January 6th 1997)
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What's great about this book is the way it plays around with an unreliable narrator, something that's signalled right at the beginning of the novel. However I think that, although short, the book is too long for the story it contains and has to be padded out. This seems to be a result of the limitations the narrative perspective imposes-- if we can't know any more than the child, and she isn't well informed, then there isn't too much to tell. Also, the Nixon/family breakdown parallels are done i...more
This book looked just right for the semi zonked out state I arrived home in after a twenty six hour flight so started reading it right away. It was a gripping read and a worthy winner of the Orange Prize; quite remarkable for a first novel although the author was an experienced writer of shorter items.
Marsha was an interesting narrator - although at times a very unlikeable one, as she sneaks around the neighbourhood, twisting the truth, making up blatant lies and never thinking of t...more
Marsha was an interesting narrator - although at times a very unlikeable one, as she sneaks around the neighbourhood, twisting the truth, making up blatant lies and never thinking of t...more
In the summer of '72, in the D.C. suburbs, 10 year old Marsha tires to make sense of a word that is becoming increasingly uncertain. On a national level, and in her neighborhood, a boy is molested and murdered. Throughout the summer Marsha watches the building hysteria in the neighborhood, and record. There are so many great things about this book that I wish I could rave about it, but it left me lukewarm. What's right with it? The author has a good ear for dialogue. Her character developm...more
Reading this book was like opening a time capsule, so perfectly did the author capture that era. Suzanne Berne does an amazing job of setting the scene... I could smell the freshly cut grass, could hear the obnoxious yipping of the little dogs, could envision Mr. Green parking his car.
In true child fashion the narrator, following an intense summer that includes the murder of a neighborhood child, the loss of her father who has run off with her mother's younger sister, and the inv...more
In true child fashion the narrator, following an intense summer that includes the murder of a neighborhood child, the loss of her father who has run off with her mother's younger sister, and the inv...more
This was quite good and very readable. Basically it's a bildungsroman. Its narrator, Marsha Eberhardt, tells the story of the summer of 1972 when she was 9 and everything in her world seemed to go wrong. Her mother discovers that her father is having an affair and their marriage breaks up; her father abandons the family; her elder siblings are angry and contemptuous, of her and everything else; her mother starts to work and contemplates selling the house; a socially awkward bachelor moves in nex...more
This was a surprise and a delight. A nice period piece about an era I remember well. Marsha, the narrator, is 10 when a murder happens in her suburban D.C. neighborhood. Around the same time, Marsha's dad runs off with his wife's sister. Her older twin siblings are off in a world of their own. A single man moves in next door. And, Marsha's mind draws cause-and-effect connections between the events, with ghastly results. Watergate and its lies form the backdrop. We occasionally hear from the adul...more
I really enjoyed this book and found myself just wanting to get back to it. Little Marsha had two very difficult events to deal with at the tender age of 10. At this point in her life it seems no one was available to her, mother dealing with her own pain, father gone, sibs who really didn't want to be bothered with a little sister, and no close friend in which to confide. The ending, believable.
This was a fascinating read (by one of the newest RWW faculty members), not least because I lived in suburban Washington DC during the period she records. Lotsa familiar sounds, humidity, clothes--all there, like looking through an album I had never kept. Beautifully crafted story.
I was disappointed in this book. It seemed more like a slice of life in a time period that seemed to be interesting, but the choices the characters make are unfortunate. I didn't find the characters particularly well developed and at times didn't act in character.
I think I'm in this book! The story is set in the town where I grew up at around the time I was born. The author describes neighbors who are familiar to me (the English lady with Corgis, etc.) She describes a young mother with a crying baby- that's me!
Sharon Archer
added it
got this book on monday from a teacher at psl high...very poignant because it involves how a breath of a rumor can wreck havoc...a family member of mine has been the target of a devestating rumor and has had her life stolen from her...
I liked that the book was a fast pace. I liked that although there was this huge crime/mystery in the neighborhood, the book wasn't about that but more about the narrator.
Really good story about the power of words and accusations. In a time when sex offenders are coming to light in the early 70's. In the end are there any winners or satisfactory answers for why we do what we do?
This was my book group read for last month. It was an easy read but I found that although it started very promisingly it became dull as the story didn't seem to actually go anywhere. Whilst it can be shown as a good example of how a child's imagination can cause trouble for others it, as others have said wasn't memorable in any way.
An interesting take on a "crime novel" (which it really is not)....it's told from the perspective of a little girl. But yeah, it's really not a crime novel. Read it!
This was a troublesome tale I read in creative writing class in England. By some twist of hilarity she and I ended up judging a fiction contest at Yale in 2005.
Vicki Mollenauer
added it
It was ok, but the story was quickly forgotten once I finished the book.
Love the lurking presence of fear and sexuality in this coming of age story.
Where's the story? I don't know I didn't feel like I got much out of this book. It was basically view into Marsha's life and really didn't go anywhere. There wasn't much of a resolution. It was just o.k. and I don't really recommend it. There are better books out there!
The 70's references were the only redeeming qualities - not sure I understood where the author was coming from completely. Maybe I should not watch TV while reading...
Enjoyed the details of the neighborhood/family seen through the young girl's mind. Not sure I liked how it ended though.
99 orange prize
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Book club
loved it
2nd read is a charm.
This is a quick read, but worth it. You don't realize until the climax how much the characters have taken you in and made you care - so much so that it is uncomfortable, anxiety ridden to read through to the end.
This is a quick read, but worth it. You don't realize until the climax how much the characters have taken you in and made you care - so much so that it is uncomfortable, anxiety ridden to read through to the end.
Couldn't get through it.
Not a bad book just not very memorable.
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It was a good book. The crimes themselves weren't shocking, it was the main character's reactions to them that were. It was a fast read, enjoyable. Not much to say, it wasn't groundbreaking or one of those books that stays with you, but the character interactions were most notable.
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