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Dec 15, 2013lukasevansherman rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Sometimes a bad movie can overshadow a good book. I saw "Little Children" and pretty much hated it, seeing it as yet another bitter, unpleasant movie about unhappy jerks in the suburbs ("American Beauty," "The Ice Storm," "Happiness"). I recently started reading Tom Perrotta, who I don't think gets the critical attention he deserves (it's usually hogged by guys named Jonathan, Michael or Dave). On paper, this doesn't look very promising: adultery in the suburbs, a married man adrift and without a job, a husband who spends his time on an internet site called Slutty Kay, the drudgery of adulthood and just for a grotesque touch, a sex offender. Yet Perrotta, working with difficult material, makes it cohere into something poignant, observant and compelling. I think his strength is that he can both satirize and be sympathetic to his characters. One of the best novels of the 00's. He should be getting the praise that Franzen gets.