Review: Beautiful Story About Lives Interrupted
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2012
This is the story of Emily Ellsley, a young woman who grows up in the family fast food restaurant. Orphaned at age 20, she is forced to make her own decisions for the first time, and all she wants to do is cook.This book is a character study of Emily and the people around her, and it reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes by Fanny Flagg, with the foody themes and the southern flavor in relationships between people. All through the book we follow Emily as she learns ever more recipes and wins prizes for her pies and pastries. Emily likes nothing better than a relaxing dinner down at the local fast food joint, with a cheeseburger, fries, and a "pick-me-up" served by Maggie, the waitress so knowledgable in the ways of the world who becomes such a good friend.A "pick-me-up" is a bottle of Coke or other soda. I guess this is a Southern expression; we would never say it in Chicago. And I did think to myself as I read Emily's story, "This woman eats too much, and she is too fixated on food for her own health," but in spite of this the ending was a total surprise for me. I had tears running down my face in the outdoor cafe where I was sitting, a nice sunny day. People were looking at me, then at the Kindle in my hand, then back at me, wondering what sort of evil device it must be.Lame Excuses is a heart-stoppingly beautiful story about real people whose lives get interrupted in just the ways people's lives do get interrupted. It is beautifully written, it moves quickly, and reading it will make you constantly hungry, right up to the point where it makes you cry. I felt all wrung out, and I had to wait a day before I could think straight enough to write this review. I saw that the author has written another book, and I'm definitely going to have a look at it.