A Genuine Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       I picked up "The Mars Room," with trepidation, as I was not thrilled about Rachel Kushner's last book, "The Flame Throwers," which made "The Times Ten Best List For 2015."

                                         "The Mars Room" is infinitely better, and, girls, I am telling you, if you want to take a journey to the world of female seediness, this is the novel for you.

                                            Kushner's narrative is a good deal more linear than in her last book, which is a plus.  Her gimmick here is to make an analogy between the prisons that The Mars Room--a lap dancing club patronized by piggish men wanting to be serviced by whorish women--and the actual woman's prison system itself, at least in California, actually are.

                                               Through the character of Romy Hall, a lifer, the seedier side of prison, and the city of San Francisco are explored. This is not the romanticism of Hitchcock's "Vertigo," by any means.  Raw, compelling, and populated with shady characters on the outside, this makes a good case for staying on  the right side of the law while showing why some of those can't.

                                                  I never thought I would call a Kushner book enthralling, but this one is.  Now, let's see what she does next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   "The Mars Room" gives the reader that walk on the wild side we all want.  But, safely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                      And by the way, darling, this is Number 12 on my list of "The New York Times 100 Most Notable Books Of 2018" read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                      Read it while eating a MARS bar, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!