a must read

I’ve always been a reader, and a writer, of sorts.  I think that’s why I majored in English.  My mother always says, “You should be a writer.”  Her belief in my writing abilities is based on the clever birthday and anniversary card sentiments I sometimes compose.  Not exactly the skill-set needed to be a great novelist.  


But I do appreciate great writing (especially when coupled with great story-telling).  I remember the devastation I felt when reading William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice.  I can still picture sitting in my backyard on a lounge chair, while in high school, reading Exodus by Leon Uris.  I always thought if I had a daughter, I would name her Jordana.  And then there is John Fowles’ The Magus.  I read it the year after graduating college.  I’d be afraid to read it again for fear its memory would outshine its reality.

And now, in 2012, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn comes along.  This book is clever and witty...the kind of book you wish could go on forever.   It’s hard to imagine someone brilliant enough to have conceived its story and characters, and then be so funny, too. 

I wonder if Ms. Flynn can write a killer birthday card?  Ya, probably.