I Don't Understand All The Fuss, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          People have told me that "The Incendiaries" is their Book Of The Year. Some reviewers compared it to Donna Tartt's "The Secret History," and while I can see structural similarities, it lacks the sweeping dramatics of the Tartt classic.

                                           Actually, the story is pretty ordinary. At a college, somewhere in New England, two kids, Will and Phoebe, fall in love. Will is a disgruntled Christian, having transferred from a Bible college--good for him--while Phoebe is torn by her Seoul origins and her American life style.

                                             But as soon as a character named John Leal enters the story I said--cult, Cult, CULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               And thus begins the tale of Leal's manipulations versus Will's efforts to get Phoebe out of his clutches.  But things take an uncertain turn, and not everything is resolved, though I have my ideas.

                                                I thought of Roth's "American Pastoral" when I read some of this brief, but well written novel.  It just tells an all too familiar story.

                                                  And, good a writer as she is, there is nothing that innovative about the way R.O. Kwon tells it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   Better luck next time, dear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!