Category: Non-fiction/Memoir
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN-13: 9780374173524
Pub. Date: May 2008
Date Read: July 2008
“The word always used for my brother in the family is ‘perplexing.’ It’s a Southern word, what you say when you don’t want to say what you really think, one of those perfect tapioca words that just begin to hint at the mountain underneath.”
Marie Brenner’s memoir centers on her relationship with her older brother, Carl. He is a hard person to know and their whole life has been one misunderstood and complicated relationship. But how do you understand someone who is complete opposite from you and doesn’t seem to want to be your brother?
It’s more than just sibling rivalry, Carl is just different. He was unpleasant to Marie and would berate her choices, politics, and life. He was once a lawyer but ended up with a farm in Washington State and grew apples. When he talked about apples, that’s when glimpses of a softer Carl appeared.
And so their relationship goes. Marie is off living in New York City and pursuing her career in journalism and Carl attends to his farm but when Marie finds out that Carl has cancer her only thought is of how to help him.
Illness won’t make Carl any easier to deal with but he’ll accept Marie’s help on his own terms. Marie feels like perhaps here is her chance to finally bond with her brother.
Throughout the memoir there are also glimpses into the family as a whole. Marie researched their background in hopes of having some explanation for how her family came to be the way they are. She makes note of all the back-stories thinking that they are significant.
However, as fascinating as her family’s history is, I found that it detracted a lot from the story. It made have made sense for her to research the family, but I didn’t want to read about that, I wanted to read about how Marie and Carl were handling their lives upon his diagnosis.