Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The best fiction of 2012 -- Reluctant Habits

One title from Edward Champion's list of the best fiction of 2012:
Paula Bomer, 9 Months:

Ayelet Waldman may have kickstarted the conversation about bad mothers a few years ago, but Bomer actually has the courage to chase maternal judgment through the pain and hilarity of its truths rather than attention-seeking pronouncements. 9 Months follows Sonia, a pregnant mother who boldly leaves her husband and even goes so far to have carnal relations with a Colin Farrell-like trucker. You could call 9 Months a Gaitskillian picaresque tale, but this doesn’t do justice to Bomer’s fierce and funny insights into how motherhood’s perceptions change from region to region, how judgment has a way of stifling a pregnant woman’s career track, and the casual cruelty of solipsistic singles who can’t understand these finer distinctions.
Read about another book on the list.

Read more about Nine Months, and visit Paula Bomer's blog.

Writers Read: Paula Bomer.

--Marshal Zeringue