Review: A Dark Near-Masterpiece
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 14, 2012
I have read Bird's short stories before and found a lot of faults. However, for some reason (perhaps because it was free?) I picked up his first novel for my Kindle. Wow. There is a world of difference here. Maybe having to work at such length has cured Bird of his tendency to write artificial, contrived tales that inevitably end badly. This is a brutal, expletive-filled, but very well written book that brings both its characters and its surroundings to life.IN LOCO PARENTIS grabbed me from the start with its narrative voice, a British teacher just beginning his Summer break. Pretty soon, we learn about his problems, which may be a bit heavy, but are portrayed with a great deal of truth. He is in love with his stepsister, which just seems wrong to him. He is also involved with the married mother of one of his students. A depressed friend has moved into his apartment. And those are just the beginning of his worries. When the plot takes a really really big turn for the worse almost exactly halfway through, I thought it might be all downhill from there, writing-wise. But Bird keeps things under control as events start to spiral even deeper into the blackest pit you can imagine. The book isn't perfect, but in Joe Campion, Bird has created a believable, highly disturbed character, that it is hard to take your eyes off of, even as he makes one mistake after another. I wonder what happens next for Joe--but I'm almost afraid to find out.Highly recommended, if you like your stories dark.