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19th out of 100 books
—
5 voters
Winner of the National Book Award
Set in Rhode Island, Winner of the National Book Award tells the story of twins who could not be more different. Abigail Mather is a woman of passionate sensual and sexual appetites, while her sister, the book loving local librarian Dorcas, lives a quiet life of the mind. But when the sisters are sought out by the predatory and famous poet, Guy DeVilbiss, who introduces th
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Paperback, 336 pages
Published
October 1st 2004
by Picador
(first published September 28th 2003)
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This afternoon I was getting ready to go to a dinner party up in Riverdale (for non–New Yorkers, that's about as far from Brooklyn as, say, Rhode Island). I was late, as I always am. And as I was about to dash out the door, I had a moment of honest-to-goodness panic when I realized that my bag was so light because I didn't have a book in it. That's right, I finished The Alcoholic this morning, and I had nothing particular picked out to read next, and there I was facing two hour-plus subway rides...more
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Jincy Willett, author of the short story collection Jenny and the Jaws of Life — which includes "Ask Betty," possibly the funniest short story ever written — published this novel in 2003.
Maybe I should be cautious about recommending this book. I suggested it to my sister, who in turn suggested it to her women's reading group — some of whom, after reading the first chapters, were ready to riot. And as you can see from the other reviews, it's not everyone's cup of tea.
So yes, it's "politically inc...more
Maybe I should be cautious about recommending this book. I suggested it to my sister, who in turn suggested it to her women's reading group — some of whom, after reading the first chapters, were ready to riot. And as you can see from the other reviews, it's not everyone's cup of tea.
So yes, it's "politically inc...more
Oh, man, did I ever get a kick out of this. It's incredibly funny and incredibly merciless -- academics and artists and men and women all come in for savage treatment, all within a narrative artfully constructed to let you sympathize with even the worst of the worst. Not dissimilar to "The Violent Bear It Away" in being heavy on the conceptual/archetypal in its characterization and descending towards inevitable catastrophe, but it's a hell of a lot more unpredictable on its way there. Rhode Isl...more
The inimitable narrator, Dorcas (Dork) of this…well, fable, really… says,
“[Many postmodern writers] have little respect for character. [They] carry on as though the human personality were some trivial thing, and it’s not, it’s not, it’s everything. It’s the great mystery…We can make predictions about our own behavior based on what we’ve done in the past, and how we feel about it now, and what niggling horrors we come awake to at three o’clock in the morning, but they’re only predictions....more
We don’
"Winner" is a book that suffers from bad advertising. I was promised a black comedy. "Riotous. Hugely funny..." and "The funniest novel I have read, possibly ever" appear right there on the cover.
The book was certainly sarcastic. It was caustic and biting but there was very little in the book that I could laugh at in good conscience. (And honestly, during reading, I wasn't inclined to do so.) In many ways, it was more like a car wreck on the highway - horrific but engrossing - than anything else...more
The book was certainly sarcastic. It was caustic and biting but there was very little in the book that I could laugh at in good conscience. (And honestly, during reading, I wasn't inclined to do so.) In many ways, it was more like a car wreck on the highway - horrific but engrossing - than anything else...more
People either love this book or they hate it. They either read it between hoots of laughter or with a quizzical look and a "I don't get it."
I admit I like dark humor, sardonic wit, disdainful eavesdropping and solitude, so I completely got prudish and prim Dorcus Mather's dry, caustic observations about New Englanders, relationships, books and her mympho twin sister. Jincy Willet has done for Rhode Island what Fannie Flagg and Florence King did for the South -- obsreved, recorded and poked at i...more
I admit I like dark humor, sardonic wit, disdainful eavesdropping and solitude, so I completely got prudish and prim Dorcus Mather's dry, caustic observations about New Englanders, relationships, books and her mympho twin sister. Jincy Willet has done for Rhode Island what Fannie Flagg and Florence King did for the South -- obsreved, recorded and poked at i...more
Recommended from a list of "Best Books You've Never Heard Of" from the New York Times.
Whoever recommended this particular book for the list was way way off the mark.
This is also the book that made me realize that I should go to the library more often to avoid wasting money on horrible, pointless books. The author promises interesting, wicked characters, but only provides brief, shadowy outlines. This book has the plot of a Margaret Atwood or Oates novel without the layers of complexity or any...more
Whoever recommended this particular book for the list was way way off the mark.
This is also the book that made me realize that I should go to the library more often to avoid wasting money on horrible, pointless books. The author promises interesting, wicked characters, but only provides brief, shadowy outlines. This book has the plot of a Margaret Atwood or Oates novel without the layers of complexity or any...more
Winner of the National Book Award, is blurbed as “scabrously funny” and as a “sharp original satire.” I have to agree that the book is clever and bitingly witty – it tells the story of twin sisters, Dorcus and Abigail Mather, and of Abigail’s disastrous marriage – which led to murder (no spoilers – this is all in the first few pages). Dorcus, the dry and controlled librarian spinster to Abigail's fierce libido, tells the story and cuts down everything in her path. She has no patience for anyone’...more
I love this woman's books! How she can be funny and serious at the same time is beyond me, but it works. No wonder David Sedaris says she's one of his favorites.
Despite what the title insists, Jincey Willet’s fictional novel did not receive the national book award… or any other award for that matter. Doesn’t matter though. Accolades aren’t always necessary, and Jincey Willet is just one example of an underrated American author. Her latest novel oscillates between quirky and disturbing. The story, set in Rhode Island, chronicles the life of two twin sisters that are polar opposites. The story is narrated by the older sister, Dorcas; the cynical, intellec...more
Paradoxically, ironically, or just plain unfortunately, I actually found this book disappointing at first because of the TOTES OTT blurbs on the front of the book. "The funniest novel I have read, possibly ever," exuberates Augusten Burroughs. Well, Augusten needs to get out more—or, more accurately, stay in reading more.
Despite this lackluster start, as I got into the novel I liked it better and better. Dorcas and Abigail are the classic Gothic characters, Merricat and Constance if they were in...more
Despite this lackluster start, as I got into the novel I liked it better and better. Dorcas and Abigail are the classic Gothic characters, Merricat and Constance if they were in...more
If you pick this up to read it--read it with a sense of wry humor!
It's hyperbolic, sarcastic, and is meant to make fun of some of the very books that win the book awards.
Why didn't I give it more stars? Well, although I think I understand the 'poking-fun-at-a-genre humor', I didn't think it did the best job at it. Too many people read it who didn't get the sarcasm (me included at first) and so I don't think Willett did the novel she must have meant to.
It's hyperbolic, sarcastic, and is meant to make fun of some of the very books that win the book awards.
Why didn't I give it more stars? Well, although I think I understand the 'poking-fun-at-a-genre humor', I didn't think it did the best job at it. Too many people read it who didn't get the sarcasm (me included at first) and so I don't think Willett did the novel she must have meant to.
Jincy Willett is my kind of writer and Winner of the National Book Award is my kind of book. Willett's voice is wonderfully unique and unlike anything I have yet to experience: she is hilarious (in a sardonic way), quotable (potently?), judgmental (in an abashed way) literary (in a gloriously arcane way), and delights in two of my favorite things ever: New England and books.
It is the latter-- her obvious, shameless, sensuous love of books and reading that I most enjoyed-- hearing the dried up s...more
It is the latter-- her obvious, shameless, sensuous love of books and reading that I most enjoyed-- hearing the dried up s...more
I think people should ignore every blurb that's on the cover of this book. It is emphatically not the funniest novel I've ever read, or even close -- Augusten Burroughs and I have different ideas of what "funny" means, maybe? -- but I nonetheless thought it was very good.
I also don't know why people call this a dark comedy, either. There's a particular person's death foreshadowed throughout, but that death in and of itself isn't much of a joke. I actually was a little bit glad of the death; ther...more
I also don't know why people call this a dark comedy, either. There's a particular person's death foreshadowed throughout, but that death in and of itself isn't much of a joke. I actually was a little bit glad of the death; ther...more
I'm not quite sure what to make of this novel. I didn't care for it much, but I kept reading because well, it's set in Rhode Island, and I kept comparing the author's conclusions about people who live their with my experiences. I was also fascinated by the relationships between the characters, which were not so much complex as perplexing and sometimes contradictory. The twin sisters have a love/hate relationship which is contrasted with Abigail's love/hate relationship with her husband. The form...more
This book had me laughing out loud several times. I initially picked it up becuse Augusten Burroughs is quoted on the front saying it is possibly the funniest book he's ever read. I don't know if I would go that far but it certainly had me in stitches. Our narrator is hillarious. Her list of what she would do to library book abusers was hillarious (she is the local librarian). In short this book is about two twin sisters (the exact opposites of each other--one the nerdy bookworm, the other the o...more
I'm not sure what to say about this book except that it has one of the most original characters, speaking in one of the most original voices, that I have ever read. I loved "Dork" and her skewering of everyone and everything. Nothing is sacred -- except, everything is. Or something. The ridiculousness of the sublime, would be one way to put it.
Some of the characters in this book are completely hateful, and to some folks that could include Dorcas, our trusty narrator, and her twin sister, Abigai...more
Some of the characters in this book are completely hateful, and to some folks that could include Dorcas, our trusty narrator, and her twin sister, Abigai...more
I picked this up randomly at the library and was pleasantly surprised. I laughed out loud several times a chapter, and had a hard time putting it down. The characters push the edge of stereotypes, and yet there is still something very authentic about them. At times I felt uncomfortable to be enjoying a book with so much humor surrounding an obvious sociopath and other dramatically flawed individuals, but heck--that's life, eh? I'm thinking of moving to the NE in the next year, and the portrait o...more
Apr 25, 2010
emi Bevacqua
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to emi by:
Time Magazine
Shelves:
fiction
I think I would have gotten more out of this book if I hadn't read all the hyper blurbs all over the cover touting it as the funniest this and perfect that. Jincy Willett is an undeniably super witty writer, there were so many parts that had me laughing out loud. I really liked this story about fraternal twin sisters Dorcas the stereotypical sexless librarian and Abigail the sensual glutton, and the man who comes between them. My favorite parts were the hilarious descriptions of Rhode Islanders,...more
Read this because my husband met the author who was a friend of his mom's friend. I liked the RI setting - good and true-to-life local color and I also liked the look at the library trade through the eyes of Dorcas, the librarian. I identified a lot with her as I too tend to live much of my life thru books and her library seemed very like mine in the earlier days of my career. Overall the book was not as good as it might have been with some parts downright creepy and others that dragged but the...more
I laughed so hard reading this book. It is incredibly dark. But her descriptions of a street in Rhode Island and it's evolution from Indian trail to strip mall are priceless. Some of the plotting is forced (and extreme) but the descriptions of the competitive relationship between the sisters was dead on. To me, she really nailed an aspect of the New England psyche. If you like the book, would also recommend Jincy Willet's "Baby's named a bad, bad, thing". It's her blog on odd children's names. H...more
The funniest thing about this book was its title. As one of the other commenters said, it really suffered from bad advertising -- if it had been billed as "biting" or "incredibly sarcastic" rather than "hilarious," maybe my expectations would have been different.
But as it stood, this story about the stereotypical brilliant spinster librarian was just so very meh. I liked Dorcas' character and clearly felt her revulsion for her twin sister, I liked the structure running parallel to the biography,...more
But as it stood, this story about the stereotypical brilliant spinster librarian was just so very meh. I liked Dorcas' character and clearly felt her revulsion for her twin sister, I liked the structure running parallel to the biography,...more
While I don't think that this book was laugh out loud funny, as indicated on the cover, it was definitely engaging. I almost didn't get past the first few chapters but I'm glad that I stuck with it and got to know the characters more thoroughly.
Favorite quote:
You character. Mine. What does it amount to? It's real, but we can't know it. We can make predictions about our own behavior based on what we've done in the past, and how we feel about it now, and what niggling horrors we come awake to at t...more
Favorite quote:
You character. Mine. What does it amount to? It's real, but we can't know it. We can make predictions about our own behavior based on what we've done in the past, and how we feel about it now, and what niggling horrors we come awake to at t...more
The only other work I had read by Jincy Willett was a short story, but I was immediately attracted to this book because of the title alone. Really, how can a book titled Winner of the National Book Award be anything but snarky and sarcastic. Snark and sarcasm are two of my favorite things in this world, so clearly I was meant to find this book and read it.
My expectations were met fully by this novel, not only did it make me laugh, but it also made me think. I found that Willett made many valid...more
My expectations were met fully by this novel, not only did it make me laugh, but it also made me think. I found that Willett made many valid...more
not funny at all. perhaps the dark humor and sardonic wit has been interpreted by the reviewers as hilarity but i disagree. this is a telling portrait of the imaginative power of books on one who thrives on independence and solitude. the contrast of the twins was well-executed to a point which allows the reader to imagine the characters as real people who are deserving of the pity and annoyance bestowed by one another. i love the stylistic writing of nor'easters and canadians as they tend to hon...more
Apr 10, 2012
Lizzie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Lizzie by:
Borrowed from Andrea.
(What cute names these authors I'm reading this month are having. I may have picked this up on purpose so that I could follow a Jandy with a Jincy.)
I think it's a little bit silly that I liked this so much, but that doesn't bother me.
What really put it over the mark for me was just simply the language. It was just right for me. It reminds me of the way I like to talk, but if the way I talked were written by an outstanding author. The word choices and description and pace of this writing drives h...more
I think it's a little bit silly that I liked this so much, but that doesn't bother me.
What really put it over the mark for me was just simply the language. It was just right for me. It reminds me of the way I like to talk, but if the way I talked were written by an outstanding author. The word choices and description and pace of this writing drives h...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Perverse of me, I know, but I don't find gang rape, anorexia, and domestic violence to be the stuff of comedy--- and yet this book is trumpeted on its cover as " Riotous... hugely funny..., " [Janet Maslin], "The funniest novel I have read, possibly ever..." [Augusten Burroughs.] "Hilarious black comedy..." The Miami Herald. {From this we may deduce that blurbers don't really read the books they describe.) Oh, this book is black, all right, and it tries to be funny. It's a kind of Very Depressed...more
I loved this book. I don't generally go in for stories about the human condition. I feel like I have enough of the human condition going on every day that I don't need to immerse myself in it when I am reading, but this book takes a wholly mesmerizing view of humans and their conditions. Especially of families and, most notably, sisters. The author tells a refreshing straight forward, unsentimental story about two two sisters, twins, who are the exaggerated opposite of each other. Abigail, a zaf...more
Wow. I picked this book up on sort of a whim, on recommendation from a book-a-day calendar given to me by a friend a few years ago. I was totally addicted once I started on it - I found it nearly impossible to put down. Our narrator is Dorcas Mather, fraternal twin of the story's other heroine, Abigail Mather. Abigail is currently in prison pending her trial for murdering her husband (he quite deserved it, we learn), and has in the meantime worked with an old acquaintance to write an expose of h...more
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from the author's website: "An aging, bitter, unpleasant woman living in Escondido, California, who spends her days parsing the sentences of total strangers and her nights teaching and writing. Sometimes, late at night, in the dark, she laughs inappropriately."
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“Reading was not an escape for her, any more than it is for me. It was an aspect of direct experience. She distinguished, of course, between the fictional world and the real one, in which she had to prepare dinners and so on. Still, for us, the fictional world was an extension of the real, and in no way a substitute for it, or refuge from it. Any more than sleeping is a substitute for waking." (Jincy Willett)”
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5 people liked it
“I spent my next hour reshelving, and the next thirty minutes straightening out the Mc's and Mac's. Nobody on God's earth understands the Mc/Mac principle anymore. In order to do that, you have to be willing to think about something other than your genitals for a full minute.”
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1 person liked it
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