Visits From the Drowned Girl

I just finished reading Steven Sherrill's second novel. Conclusions:

• It's almost like someone stopped editing it 50 pages from the end. For an assistant professor of English he showed a glaring need for some proofing.
• The finish was a bit abrupt, and not in keeping with the languid detail of the first part of the book; it was almost like he had a page limit or a deadline, and didn't quite wind things up neatly enough. However, it was also a tiny bit predictable.
• The main character was a brute in many ways, but also the very opposite of M (the main character of his first book). Empathising with Benny wasn't difficult so much as uncomfortable.

In summary, it's worth reading*, but out of the two I'd definitely choose The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break.

* It's actually worth reading regardless of whether you've read Minotaur — if you have you know what to expect, and if you haven't you will hopefully be pleasantly surprised!

Posted at 2005-03-21 13:30:38 by Richard • Link to Visits From the Dr…