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Little Children

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 17,936 ratings · 1,600 reviews

Tom Perrotta's thirtyish parents of young children are a varied and surprising bunch. There's Todd, the handsome stay-at-home dad dubbed "The Prom King" by the moms at the playground, and his wife, Kathy, a documentary filmmaker envious of the connection Todd has forged with their toddler son. And there's Sarah, a lapsed feminist surprised to find she's become a typical wi...more

Paperback, 355 pages

Published January 1st 2005 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published March 19th 2004)

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Jul 31, 2007 Jeremy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, borrowed-from-someone

Tom Perrotta is usually very fun to read. I'm pretty sure I've read all his books, and I typically polish them off (meaning I read them, not eat them; you should not eat books) within the day, which for me is impressive. A dinette set could finish a marathon with time to spare well before I complete a book, but Perrotta's voice is easygoing and funny, and a master at pacing if you ask me, so I happily breeze right through.

But "Little Children", for which he has arguably received the most attent...more Tom Perrotta is usually very fun to read. I'm pretty sure I've read all his books, and I typically polish them off (meaning I read them, not eat them; you should not eat books) within the day, which for me is impressive. A dinette set could finish a marathon with time to spare well before I complete a book, but Perrotta's voice is easygoing and funny, and a master at pacing if you ask me, so I happily breeze right through.

But "Little Children", for which he has arguably received the most attention, is in no way his best book. Now I still finished it in a day or two, so at least it's not boring. I got the impression that Perrotta felt like he was making this ostensibly mind-blowing point about the parent-child relationship, wanting us to sit down with our head in our hands and murmur "My God, my child is not the child, but I, the parent, am really the child, although my child is the child as well, but only because nature has forced him to be a child, whereas I, the parent, a supposed adult, have no such excuse for my childish behavior, and yet I remain a child, a child who has a child. I'm calling DHS on myself. Thank you, Tom Perrotta".

I hate to think of him snapping his fingers and declaring "Aha! I will name my book 'Little Children'! That's perfect! Because it involves little children, like real actual children, but really it's about the little children in all of us! Because that's all we are! Everyone! Honey! Honey? Where are you? Honey, are you in the bathroom? Where are you?! Honey?! Jesus, there you are! How can you stand the TV that loud? I just figured it out! Guess what I'm calling the book? 'Little Children'! It means two things!"

I guess if you had never read any of his stuff in the past, this book might seem pretty good, and where it was the first novel of his to really spend much time on the charts, it seems likely to me that better-than-usual marketing (coupled with the fact that, on the whole, young parents seem to like to read books) is the most viable explanation for the novel's comparatively runaway success.

Worst of all is the ending, which is just really, really stupid. Didn't like the movie much, either. (less)

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Jun 22, 2007 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars

(Full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

For better or for worse, there are a small collection of writers out there who can be called "movie authors," for lack of a better term; those who have had multiple novels adapted into films now, because of writing screenplay-friendly books or having an amazing agent or whatever the reason. And as far as the traditional literary world, these writers can be found scattered all the way through the foo...more (Full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

For better or for worse, there are a small collection of writers out there who can be called "movie authors," for lack of a better term; those who have had multiple novels adapted into films now, because of writing screenplay-friendly books or having an amazing agent or whatever the reason. And as far as the traditional literary world, these writers can be found scattered all the way through the food chain: from those who are highly respected in the academic community (like Michael Cunningham, for example, author of both The Hours and A Home At the End of the World), to those whose books can scarcely be called literature in the first place (like Ira Levin, author of the "screenplay novels" Sliver and Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives and The Boys From Brazil...whew!), to of course all the Stephen Kings and John Grishams and Michael Crichtons of the world, who have an odd mishmash of both mainstream and literary audiences.

And it might surprise some, but I'm actually a fan of several movie authors; I mean, you know, as long as you take them in the right context, and understand that the books are pretty quick reads that lend themselves to simple scripts, there are actually some pretty decent writers out there who happen to have had several manuscripts that have been shipped off to Hollywood. Take Tom Perrotta, for example, author of Election, which was made into a highly successful movie in 1999, and was in fact arguably the film that turned Reese Witherspoon into a bona-fide star; and whose book I just happened to read a number of years ago on one of those dreary Saturdays we have here in Chicago, where you want to do nothing more than read random books for free for eight hours in one of those superstores while lounging around their cafe, thin books that you would never want to actually spend money to read. And Election, to tell you the truth, turned out not only to be a lot better than I was expecting, but so much different than the movie; the original novel is quite the serious drama, as a matter of fact, not the farcical comedy the adapted screenplay turned out to be. I mean, don't get me wrong, both versions are entertaining; just that the book has a gravitas I wasn't expecting, a much darker and more pessimistic outlook towards humanity, that I really respected after thinking it was going to be a goofy Hollywood-friendly comedy.

So when I learned last year that Perrotta was also the author of Little Children, made recently into an Oscar-nominated drama starring Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley and others, I ended up...(less)

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Jun 26, 2008 Carol rated it 1 of 5 stars

This has got to be the first time in my entire life that I thought the movie version of something was better than the book. Yes, I saw the movie first, and perhaps that influenced me. But, man, Tom Perrotta is a crappy writer. I felt like he was just punching a clock here--so much of the writing was dull, cliched, and lifeless.

Not only that, the movie managed to create complexity in the characters where the book did not. For instance, the movie actually managed to make me feel sorry for a child...more

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Apr 18, 2007 Abby rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anybody willing to dip into the Dark Side.

Shelves: fiction

Oh, Tom Perrotta. How I adore you.

There is one common denominator in Perrotta books: infidelity/adultery.

I've often questioned whether this is a common denominator in Perrotta's relationships, as well, or simply a fantasty he entertains. But whatever, I digress.

Little Children is a dark satire into middle/upper-class suburbia, where moms at the playground compete with each other on who has the nicest J. Crew khakis or who remembers to bring the snacks, stay-at-home-dads can be labeled "Prom King...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Trish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: funny, fiction, totally-unexpected, audio

Perrotta has written a caustically funny satire of thirty-something suburban American life that we laugh aloud even as we see ourselves and our faults unerringly displayed. Even with his open salvo--descriptions of the mothers at the playground discussing their children, other mothers’ children, their husbands, their sexual habits (or not)--one cannot help but think this is one author who listens and can make a joke of even the most painful circumstance. No matter how bad or boring things get, h...more Perrotta has written a caustically funny satire of thirty-something suburban American life that we laugh aloud even as we see ourselves and our faults unerringly displayed. Even with his open salvo--descriptions of the mothers at the playground discussing their children, other mothers’ children, their husbands, their sexual habits (or not)--one cannot help but think this is one author who listens and can make a joke of even the most painful circumstance. No matter how bad or boring things get, he’ll be able to see what is funny in it.

Perrotta takes a stab at the politically correct: skewering the liberal left (for believing the child molester was probably innocent because he wasn’t convicted of murder), and the righteous right (for believing the child molester was guilty before he was convicted of murder). The problems and insecurities and small-mindedness and flat-out lying that all the characters exhibit tell us so much more about what we think we can get away with and never can…but such outrageous and egregious faults! Perrotta must have sat around thinking of what would be the worst of all the faults one could encounter in a spouse: faithlessness, online porn and used-panty fantasist, child molester, alcoholic, serial failure…when the child molester wishes he were an alcoholic instead, one just knows there is no way to escape unscathed.

But we have seen these characters, or parts of them, in the people around us. They are familiar, but not as funny as in this book. Here people are so flagrant and so flawed and so “other” that we can laugh and claim they are not us. But when our handsome no-pads neighborhood football QB and unfaithful spouse, Todd, says to his working wife, “Sarah? Sarah who?” we cringe for him, for his wife, for the children, for ourselves because he/we are fooling ourselves that we can get away with something when the game is already up. Someone has caught us out, seen us for who and what we are. But somehow, Perrotta still allows us to laugh, despite the sordid tragedy of it all.
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Jun 22, 2008 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

I was disturbed by the topics raised in this book not so much because I am a prude but rather because I'm an idealist. Perhaps I am a bit naive but I'd certainly like to think that infidelity is less common place than the literary world makes it seem. Perrota definitely likes to incorporate sexuality into his writing and Little Children is no exception. Oddly, I found the characterization of the convicted child molester less unsettling than the pantie-sniffing web surfer or his wife's affair. We...more

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Apr 07, 2008 sdattybride rated it 4 of 5 stars

While not every aspect of the story necessarily rings true, Perotta does a fantastic job of creating a secret world between Sarah and Todd, using the characters' own flaws to develop his story and build suspense. Personally, I don't know that the sex-offender subplot did much for the story and I could've done without it, particularly considering its overall "preachy" tone (which may be unavoidable when writing about so delicate a subject). While I can appreciate that the idea was to parallel a l...more

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Mar 07, 2008 Gemma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Man, I have a difficult time with this book (especially in light of recently seeing the movie). Perrotta uses his usual awkward grace in developing awkward characters, and created a novel more complete and thoughtful than any of his previous ones. He still has some of the same problems as in his earlier novels (the random addition of a secondary or tertiary character's perspective for just one brief segment, for convenience in the plot, is as annoying here as it is in Election), but I felt like...more

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Sep 04, 2007 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

A quick and enjoyable read, with lots to say about what marriage and love and child-rearing really mean. What they really mean, according to Perotta, is a lot of unfulfilled fantasies, disappointments, and a touch of real enjoyment. Since I generally view life in this sort of semi-cynical way, I found a lot to identify with in this book.

Another aspect of the book that I liked was the way Perotta dealt with the arrival of a convicted sex offender in the sleepy suburban neighborhood he paints so...more

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Apr 07, 2009 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tom Perrotta's novel, "Little Children", might well be entitled, "Parents", for it focuses on the lives of several married couples living the suburban lifestyle. The title could very well refer to the immature actions and decisons of these people and the tenuous bonds which they have formed in their marriages.Indeed, the children are loved, but the story that unfolds tells of adultery, pornography, and often many failures to acheive any realistic goals in thier lives. To complicate matters, a co...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 14, 2012 wally rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: perrotta

i think this is the 3rd from perrotta for me...the other two, The Abstinence Teacher & The Leftovers, the first one i read from him...bout a year or so ago maybe longer.

this one is dedicated, in memory of my father, joe perrotta
Little Children, 2004...2005 this edition...

has a brief acknowledgments five six lines long, then a quote from Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

"i have a lover! i have a lover!' she kept repeating to herself, reveling in the thought as though she were beginning a second...more

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Jul 17, 2008 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this novel--intelligently constructed, defined characters, realistic resolution. I did not, however, enjoy the story. I think there was too much going on--the sex offender, while definitely a part of the story, was more an afterthought. The same could be said for Larry Moon--his existence is so tertiary, you have to wonder if he wasn't created solely to torment Ronnie McGorvey.

The true meat of this tale is the love affair between Sarah and Todd, with less emphasis on the happy end...more

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Jun 25, 2008 JoAnn/QuAppelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another good book from Tom Perrotta. I've read all his books--- just bought his "Bad Haircut" and am looking forward to reading it now.
The cast of characters in "Little Children" are people that we all have known--- but we were not clever enough to write a book about them! Perrotta is a great observer of the human condition and depicted these have-it-all suburbanites and their lives perfectly in this satire. Every one is dissatisfied and is looking for a way out of their current situation.....th...more

1 like · like · see review

May 11, 2008 Izlinda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction-literature

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The movie itself was one I loved, so I thought to see if the book attracted me as well.

I liked this book very much as I thought it was a morally ambiguous story. It delves deeper into the characters' various stories.

Sarah, the bored housewife with a daughter she doesn't seem to like, with a bisexual tendency but married due to fear of boredom and being stuck in a rut.
Todd (known as Brad in the movie) who is the "prom king" with a son he adores and a bar exams he detests looming.
Ronnie, the r...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 08, 2008 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Julia by: Frank G!

I'm beginning to notice a pattern: I started reading The Abstinence Teacher on a flight, and was so absorbed that I spent the entire next day at home, finishing the bulk of it in one day - which is SO unusual for me (I usually take weeks to finish even the easiest books). About the same thing happened with this one - covering about 80 pages on slow subways, I finished it on the following day home sick from work - staying up late to get through the last, terrifyingly suspenseful pages. No wonder...more I'm beginning to notice a pattern: I started reading The Abstinence Teacher on a flight, and was so absorbed that I spent the entire next day at home, finishing the bulk of it in one day - which is SO unusual for me (I usually take weeks to finish even the easiest books). About the same thing happened with this one - covering about 80 pages on slow subways, I finished it on the following day home sick from work - staying up late to get through the last, terrifyingly suspenseful pages. No wonder this was made into a movie.

Shockingly, I really loved this book, even though the characters never ceased to revolt me. You've got a couple adulterers, a child molester, his depressed mother who is waiting to die, a bunch of gross football players, numerous unhappy wives and husbands, internet porn, the whole deal. Conclusion: suburbia is CREEPY. Everyone is miserable, and these poor three- and four- year olds are disturbingly innocent witnesses to their parents' unraveling. Perotta paints a bleak picture. However bleak and SCARY (nothing more bone chilling to me than a young child's disappearance), Perotta's exposition of plot and character are way up to snuff.

After I finished, once I calmed my heart rate and assured myself that the doors and windows were locked, I experience a very similar train of thought as after finishing The Abstinence Teacher. How urgent/present is Perotta's moral imperative? It is obvious that homeboy is critical of religion, and the institution of marriage - though his exact criticism is unclear to me. Most of his characters are divorced, in the middle of a divorce, on the brink of divorce, experiencing a longing for past "glory days" or repeatedly going over "what would/could have been." If I had to guess, his "message" is not a moral imperative but rather a quiet call to investigate the accepted wisdom on how a middle class life progresses. Or maybe he just thinks that people's lives are interesting and sad and wants to write a good story.

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Apr 01, 2008 Alix Méav rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

I read Little Children after a friend recommended it to me and after I read the actual novel that inspired the movie Election.

Little Children is a fantastic book to read when you're in your mid-to-late 20's-early 30's. There was something about the book to me that made me very uncomfortable in some parts because I could recognise my own fears of getting older, being a graduate student, and the possibility that so many years of schooling could amount to absolutely zero.

Perhaps it is also because...more

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May 08, 2008 Adrienne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who are sometimes cynical, independent women

Recommended to Adrienne by: Christine Z.

a laugh-out-loud tale from a new jersey author. (lines like the one about the patron saint of the failed bar exam are priceless.) was like reading a version of "desperate housewives" that could inspire intellectual conversations about psychology, as the characters seemed more like exaggerations than actual people to me, and they spend most of their time in the vacuum that is their suburb.

i think this book struck a chord with me b/c i am a few years younger than some of the characters, so i worri...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 15, 2008 Mark R. rated it 5 of 5 stars

So far this year, I've been doing a great job of picking out books exactly in line with my tastes. This Tom Perrotta book was an enjoyable quick read, an appropriate change of pace after "The Denial of Death," which was the last thing I read--and a book I had a hard time getting my mind off of, days afterwards. Perrotta writes in a relatively straight-forward manner, with lots of dialogue. Lots of really fucking GREAT dialogue.

The story is about a few early-thirties-aged individuals in a small t...more

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Jan 27, 2008 Patrick McCoy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

I really enjoyed the film adaptation of Tom Perrotta’s novel Little Children, which was smart, well executed without relying on stereotypes and clichés while taking a look at suburban America. The same can be said of his novel. I guess I was first interested in reading one of his novels, when I read that he wrote both Little Children and Election-from which two excellent films were made. His latest, The Abstinence Teacher also sounds quite intriguing. I have to say that the adaptation was pretty...more

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Nov 14, 2007 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't remember where I heard about this book, but I do remember that I put it on my reading list because it was essentially about the "secret" lives of stay-at-home parents who visit the local playground with their kids. Tom Perrotta does a great job showing us the needs and desires of these parents, as they search for meaning (and love) in their lives. The characters are lots of fun too: Sarah, the former feminist who swore she wouldn't be the SAHM and ends up marrying an internet porn addict...more

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May 08, 2008 Carolynn rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: most readers

To be brief, this is a very well written piece, something I would call a dark comic drama. Not too unlike American Beauty (the movie). It deeply criticizes the suburban family in a way that is never excessive, just smart. The best asset of this tale is that it's satire is delivered through complex and unforgettable characters. Ones who get addicted to anti-child-molester comittees, parkbench gossip, and even panty-sniffing.

Truly a great read which most people I know on here will totally love. ....more

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Sep 29, 2007 Spring rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub

It's a depressing book about the empty, selfish lives of people in the 'burbs. People looking for someone to save them from the reality of ordinary lives.

Quotes from the book:

"It wasn't that easy to tell one weekday from the next anymore; they all just melted together like a bag of crayons left out in the sun."

"I am a painfully ordinary person ... destined to live a painfully ordinary life."

"If there was one thing life had taught him, it was that it was ridiculous to be at war with your own desi...more

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Sep 15, 2007 Guillermo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

I normally don't pick up books like this--something that may sooner or later be found in the bins of genre fiction that no one in a hundred years will look back and say, "That book really did shape different thoughts--" but I gave Little Children the benefit of the doubt. From the get go, I was discouraged because of the Reading Group Guide at the back of the book. I could only picture housewives and forced husbands sitting around in a circle chatting up a storm, dissecting the book in every way...more I normally don't pick up books like this--something that may sooner or later be found in the bins of genre fiction that no one in a hundred years will look back and say, "That book really did shape different thoughts--" but I gave Little Children the benefit of the doubt. From the get go, I was discouraged because of the Reading Group Guide at the back of the book. I could only picture housewives and forced husbands sitting around in a circle chatting up a storm, dissecting the book in every way possible. This is not the book for me, but I had wanted to read since I saw the soft cover a few years back. It wasn't until the movie came out that I remembered about it. So I picked up and read it.

I can't believe how wrong I have been by judging the book by the "genre."

I love Tom Perrotta's voice, making him quite possibly the first writer who still breathes to capture my attention.

The title itself seems a little shady Little Children can mean anything. From first glance, it's about a story of parents in their early thirties with---you guessed it, little children. But then there's the mindsets of all these people: Mary Ann, who has to have everything clockwork--even sex!!!!; Sarah, a decayed feminist who finds herself being the typical housewife; Kathy, the artist who is working on a documentary while her husband, Todd, is a stay-at-home-dad; Richard, Sarah's husband, gets lost inside every teenaged-boy's fantasy of internet porn; and Todd, the SAHD, who refuses to grow up. Couple them with a few other supporting characters, and you have the residents of Bellington.

But enter Ronnie McGorvey, a convicted child molester and suspected child murderer. As if the symbol of innocence lost, his presence changes the atmosphere of the peaceful town.

Sarah and Todd finds themselves in the arms of an affair; Richard decides to live up to his sexual dreams; Kathy hides behind her mother as the impending doom hangs over her head. Each of them will slowly realized that they will have to, sooner rather than later, have to put behind the childish fantasies of the perfect life, and grow up.

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May 24, 2007 Bernie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like to think

If possible, read this book before seeing the movie...although i think the movie did a very respectable job of capturing the main issues of the book.

How refreshing to have a writer who questions the "PC-ness" of American society, the direction this country is heading further into. It's interesting to examine the mores of a suburban community - the self-righteousness of new mothers, the husbands who blindly follow their wives' rage in order not to rock the boat, the people who set themselves up a...more

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Feb 24, 2008 Don rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was an extremely quick read and I enjoyed it though I’m still not entirely sure if the title is referring to the children in the book or the compromisingly inappropriate behavior of their parents. Tom Perrotta is no Alice Seybold in that his character’s flaws seem pretty obvious and easily dismissed by a first year psychology student as perpetually adolescent. In spite of what I fled were small literary shortcomings, he spins an interesting yarn.

I found the ending a bit of a convenien...more

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Mar 05, 2007 Jake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those with a cynical view of the world

Shelves: books-for-drummey

This book was incredible, and I was inspired to read it after I saw the movie adaptation back in December. I finally got around to it after the Oscars and I'm really glad I did. However, this is one of those rare books where I actually think the movie may be better. I loved that the book fleshed out some of the characters more, and gave a better backdrop to the plot than what you knew simply from watching the film. However, certain differences in plot resulted in a markingly disparate reaction t...more This book was incredible, and I was inspired to read it after I saw the movie adaptation back in December. I finally got around to it after the Oscars and I'm really glad I did. However, this is one of those rare books where I actually think the movie may be better. I loved that the book fleshed out some of the characters more, and gave a better backdrop to the plot than what you knew simply from watching the film. However, certain differences in plot resulted in a markingly disparate reaction to the general work.

I only have two beefs - the novel changes the characterization and focus of three minor characters, and the ending is immensely dissimilar. One minor character became far too significant in the end, and I appreciate that she was reduced in the film. Ronnie's crimes were far worse in the novel (though you don't find this out until the end), and I felt like Perotta was almost trying to justify the abuse he suffered at the hands of his neighbors. Granted, the endings of the novel and the film are vastly, almost incomparably different, but you can't help but think about the film's resolution when reading the anti-climactic and mildly disappointing version in the novel. Finally, Sarah's husband, Richard, was almost forced into the spotlight.

Other than that, I really don't see a problem with the novel. The narrative voice is superb - helping the reader to sympathize with the characters while keeping him distant enough to still judge their short-comings. And Perrota does a great job, as does the film, of evoking the desperation of the character's lives and the laziness of a summer spent with toddlers.

Overall, the novel and film work excellently together as companion pieces to each other. In my opinion, however, the adapted screenplay focuses the plot of the novel and helps to keep the story on track as it leads toward the shocking and painful conclusion. I highly recommend both to anyone with a love of literature, especially the type that satirizes American culture and showcases "the hunger -- the hunger for an alternative and the refusal to accept a life of unhappiness."(less)

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Apr 15, 2008 Woodge rated it 4 of 5 stars

I discovered this book in the pages of The New York Times Book Review, and after reading the review it went to the top of my "To Read Next" list. Little Children is a suburban drama about a bunch of couples with children who have various kinds of troubled marriages. And when a convicted child molester moves into town, their troubles get a little more complicated and scary. Many of the characters are likable sorts even when you watch them make some dumb choices with their lives. It all makes for...more

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Feb 10, 2008 Jansen Caanria rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the first book that i read which covers a lot of serious topics (suburbia life, adultery, perversion) which simply are not like the pop fiction novels I've been used to reading (romance, inspirational, adventure).

I've seen the movie first so it made reading this book a lot easier to engage with yet it still made me feel excited about what would happen in the next pages. There are many differences between the novel and its movie adaptation. Definitely, the characters have more depth in t...more

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Jan 28, 2009 Teddy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this with Essencia Island Book Club. Here's my review from Amazon.ca:

Often if I see a movie I really like I’ll read the book, which is what happened with Little Children. The movie sticks quite closely to the book except for the ending, which I won’t give away here. Tom Perrotta was really able to get into the heads of his characters, even the females. In fact, if you didn’t know who wrote the book, you may think a woman wrote it. I found this very refreshing. Perrotta was able to weave a...more

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Apr 05, 2009 Monica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, genrex

Read this for the second time around for Genre X this month. I still like the very straightforward style and story, but I feel like there is nothing else for me this time. Even though I read Little Children way back in 2004, I feel like I remember every plot point and turn and this re-read is unexpectedly boring. I do find myself identifying more with Kathy than with Sarah which wasn't the case five years ago.

I still think this is a fun read but I'm not sure this would be making a new classics...more

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About Tom Perrotta

Tom Perrotta (born August 13, 1961) is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novels Election (1998) and Little Children (2004), both of which were made into critically acclaimed, Golden Globe-nominated films. Perrotta co-wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film version of Little Children with Todd Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay...more

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Quotes from Little Children

“After all, what was adult life but one moment of weakness piled on top of another? Most people just fell in line like obedient little children, doing exactly what society expected of them at any given moment, all the while pretending that they’d actually made some sort of choice.” — 54 people liked it

“It's not the cheating. It's the hunger for an alternative. The refusal to accept unhappiness.” — 37 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: Little Children Goodreads rating: 3.57 (17936 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/37426.Little_Children?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327556734l/37426.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/37426.Little_Children?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Little Children by Tom Perrotta[/url]

Little Children

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