The thing is, I picked up this book because of the bold title. Who names their book "Winner of the National Book Award"? Surely someone who takes risks and has a wicked sense of humor. It sold me, it worked. And I do believe Willett is capable of those things. The problem is, this book reads like a first draft. It's a jumble of great ideas and clever punchlines that get lost in masturbatory prose, poorly developed characters and a weak framework. The story focuses on twin sisters Dorcas and Abig...

I loved this book. I do think it's one of those, "You either love it or you hate it," kind of books. I loved the device the author used, the writing, the characters (in the way you love characters you hate), and the tone of the book. Creative. Dark. Humorous. Sultry. Thought-provoking.

In most twin-sister pairings, there is the one who rides down the motorhighway in a Cadillac with her pantaloons on her head, hoot-yelling ‘Born to Run’ while her rock-drummer husband shoots hot loot into his eyelids, and the one who stays indoors eating square sausage listening to the lovely Martin Jarvis read from AS Byatt’s latest novel. My own twin sisters are no different: Xanthippe likes nothing better than to roar along the Ayr-to-Coatbridge byroads in her Citroen 2CV screaming along to t...

The inimitable narrator, Dorcas (Dork) of this…well, fable, really… says, “[Many postmodern writers] have little respect for character. [They] carry on as though the human personality were some trivial thing, and it’s not, it’s not, it’s everything. It’s the great mystery…We can make predictions about our own behavior based on what we’ve done in the past, and how we feel about it now, and what niggling horrors we come awake to at three o’clock in the morning, but they’re only predictions.We don’...

This afternoon I was getting ready to go to a dinner party up in Riverdale (for non–New Yorkers, that's about as far from Brooklyn as, say, Rhode Island). I was late, as I always am. And as I was about to dash out the door, I had a moment of honest-to-goodness panic when I realized that my purse was so light because it didn't have a book in it. That's right, I finished The Alcoholic this morning, and I had nothing particular picked out to read next, and there I was facing two hour-plus subway ri...

Perverse of me, I know, but I don't find gang rape, anorexia, and domestic violence to be the stuff of comedy--- and yet this book is trumpeted on its cover as " Riotous... hugely funny..., " [Janet Maslin], "The funniest novel I have read, possibly ever..." [Augusten Burroughs.] "Hilarious black comedy..." The Miami Herald. {From this we may deduce that blurbers don't really read the books they describe.) Oh, this book is black, all right, and it tries to be funny. It's a kind of Very Depressed...

Recommended from a list of "Best Books You've Never Heard Of" from the New York Times. Whoever recommended this particular book for the list was way way off the mark. This is also the book that made me realize that I should go to the library more often to avoid wasting money on horrible, pointless books. The author promises interesting, wicked characters, but only provides brief, shadowy outlines. This book has the plot of a Margaret Atwood or Oates novel without the layers of complexity or any

I really should have put this in the "I stopped reading" category but I hated it so much that I felt I needed to write a review.It is one of the most depressing books I've read, in memory. First, it revolves around a plot of massive domestic violence. Sad, in it's own right, Sadder when it is the main plot device for a supposed satire or comedy of manners of a New England "Yankee" town and family. This book fails, utterly, at being the least bit funny or even satirical (and I will admit to not b...

If you pick this up to read it--read it with a sense of wry humor!It's hyperbolic, sarcastic, and is meant to make fun of some of the very books that win the book awards. Why didn't I give it more stars? Well, although I think I understand the 'poking-fun-at-a-genre humor', I didn't think it did the best job at it. Too many people read it who didn't get the sarcasm (me included at first) and so I don't think Willett did the novel she must have meant to.

a lot of the blurbs talk about how hilarious this was. I found parts of it funny but it was actually quite dark. the writing was skillful in that it starts out and you think, ok, the narrator is a twin. she's an asexual librarian, her fraternal twin sister is all about sex. neither one of them is particularly about love, but they both get taken in in that direction by the same predatory man. anyway, when the book starts you get the idea she's not too fond of her sister, but actually it turns out...

Winner of the National Book Award, is blurbed as “scabrously funny” and as a “sharp original satire.” I have to agree that the book is clever and bitingly witty – it tells the story of twin sisters, Dorcus and Abigail Mather, and of Abigail’s disastrous marriage – which led to murder (no spoilers – this is all in the first few pages). Dorcus, the dry and controlled librarian spinster to Abigail's fierce libido, tells the story and cuts down everything in her path. She has no patience for anyone’...

Uproariously funny, with a narrative voice uniquely, hysterically sarcastic and dry. It's all about tone, not punchlines, and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but the less you know going in, the better. I'll therefore shut up before unintentionally revealing more.

"Winner" is a book that suffers from bad advertising. I was promised a black comedy. "Riotous. Hugely funny..." and "The funniest novel I have read, possibly ever" appear right there on the cover.The book was certainly sarcastic. It was caustic and biting but there was very little in the book that I could laugh at in good conscience. (And honestly, during reading, I wasn't inclined to do so.) In many ways, it was more like a car wreck on the highway - horrific but engrossing - than anything else...

Jincy Willett, author of the short story collection Jenny and the Jaws of Life — which includes "Ask Betty," possibly the funniest short story ever written — published this novel in 2003.Maybe I should be cautious about recommending this book. I suggested it to my sister, who in turn suggested it to her women's reading group — some of whom, after reading the first chapters, were ready to riot. And as you can see from the other reviews, it's not everyone's cup of tea.So yes, it's "politically inc...

Paradoxically, ironically, or just plain unfortunately, I actually found this book disappointing at first because of the TOTES OTT blurbs on the front of the book. "The funniest novel I have read, possibly ever," exuberates Augusten Burroughs. Well, Augusten needs to get out more—or, more accurately, stay in reading more.Despite this lackluster start, as I got into the novel I liked it better and better. Dorcas and Abigail are the classic Gothic characters, Merricat and Constance if they were in...

Truly excellent novel! I'm baffled that I have never heard of Jincy Willett before now. I shall quote another reviewer who wrote, "This book is spectacularly wonderful, luridly wonderful, gaspingly wonderful, too wonderful, maybe, to even review." I, too, have no idea how to describe what is wonderful about this novel without taking away from its wonderfulness.**My only complaint was that the ending was no fun and felt somewhat contrived, but I confess that I am rarely satisfied with the endings...

It had some interesting parts and I could relate to the librarian's love of books, but overall I REALLY didn't like it. I was pleased by the intersting writing as it started. Soon into it, I got to a chapter all about someone's sexual perversions and I knew it was a mistake, but I had to see how it ended -my shortcoming when it comes to fiction- so I read the rest of the book- skimming and reading. My advice: just don't start it.

This book was a selection of the book club I belong to. I usually prefer novels where I admire or at least sympathize with the protagonist or other characters. That was not the case here. Yet I enjoyed it enough to consider rating it at five stars. (I didn't, as I reserve five stars for the best of the best.) I wouldn't say I loved this book, but I did like it very much. What was good about it? I loved the discussions of Dorcas, the narrator librarian, about books, reading, readers, writing and

Despite what the title insists, Jincey Willet’s fictional novel did not receive the national book award… or any other award for that matter. Doesn’t matter though. Accolades aren’t always necessary, and Jincey Willet is just one example of an underrated American author. Her latest novel oscillates between quirky and disturbing. The story, set in Rhode Island, chronicles the life of two twin sisters that are polar opposites. The story is narrated by the older sister, Dorcas; the cynical, intellec...

I have many thoughts about this book. Here are some of them, in no particular order:1. I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would. In fact, it wasn't until about two-thirds of the way through that it really started to strike a note with me. Then it became, in a way, brilliant.2. Many people have categorized this book as "humor." That is absolutely baffling to me. Sure, there are some funny moments, but I would in no way classify this book as humorous. It is at LEAST just a tra...