We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

Let's discuss kerning, shall we? The author's name on the cover of this book is incomprehensible. Come on. Use a space bar.

We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates came into my life when Oprah picked it for her book club. I didn't have high hopes going on, but YOU GUYS.  That was me ugly crying on the couch on a random Wednesday night, trying to tell my husband that it was okay, but there was this cat and this girl and her dad wouldn't talk to her and she was being taken advantage of and they sold her horse and she never got to say goodbye and THERE WAS THIS CAT.

I definitely had an emotional reaction to this book.

This book walks us through the life of a family, the eponymous Mulvaneys, in a small town in New York. It's a happy enough family until The Incident. After The Incident, the parents fail to successfully put on their big people pants and deal with it, leaving the children to cope in their own ways.  Then we follow each member of the family as he or she deals with the fallout of failed parenting.  I mean, that's my take on it. I've read reviews that say the goal of the book was to demonstrate how the fallout wasn't really anyone's fault, but if that was the goal, the book failed.  The parents are solely responsible for being idiots.

For me, the daughter of the story was the protagonist and I just wanted to hug this fictional girl. Life handed her a bunch of lemons and then she threw up.  It was a tough slog.

And that's the deal. This book was a tough slog. I didn't WANT to read it. It was moving and I was touched, but it was too real. This is what happens to people. You don't set out to become a slacker, a crazy dog lady, an alcoholic, or a high school dropout.  But life isn't always easy and when life isn't easy, sometimes there's no way out of the downward spiral. And that's what I took from this novel. Downward spirals are impossible to stop. You shouldn't bother trying.

And, yes, that made me cry. 

In light of what's going on in the world around me, I couldn't help but look at the scenario in this book, throw in some opioid addiction, and wonder how the United States can be a hopeful place again. We're in a downward spiral and I don't know how to stop it.