I have good and bad news about "Goodbye, Vitamin," by Rachel Khong.
The good new is, while it deals with an adult daughter who gives up at least a year of her life, to aid her mother in caring for her father, who is succumbing to Alzheimer's, it is not as wrenching or depressing as Matthew Thomas' "We Are Not Ourselves." I had feared picking up this book, when I heard the subject matter, only to discover it is laced with humor, sweetness, bits of California history, and Alzheimer information, making it quite encompassing for such a slim volume.
The bad new is, while the brevity does not bother me, as it covers a range of subjects, the prose style is entirely in short, staccato sentences, reading like a work fabricated in a Writers Factory, namely an MFA Program.
Which it was; not only that, it was at the University Of Florida, where she studied with David Leavitt, whom I once held out to the promising gay writer of my generation, yet has not written a decent book since "The Indian Clerk." What ever happened to you, Dave?????????????????
At his best, Leavitt's style was never like this, so I do not understand how the writing style of this novel blew anyone away. Maybe it was the humor and hope held out, compared to the crushing weight of Thomas' book, that captivated literary folks.
It's a strange dichotomy. I found the characters and story touching, but the prose style tedious. Miss Khong has to learn to fuse both together, if she hopes to present the genuinely decent work she is probably capable of writing.
Maybe this should have been worked on a bit more, as it is too soon off the assembly line.
It's time some boys and girls learned this lesson--enrolling in a writing program does not guarantee instant publication!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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