Love, dishonor, marry, die, cherish, perish

Damn. I just finished this, and have that socked-in-the-gut feeling. I had a hard time getting into it at the start; the AABB rhyming felt too Suessian, almost silly, totally at odds with the subject, and kind of hard to follow. But once I got into a rhythm, I was wholly sucked in; the rhyming, though pronounced all the way through, faded into an tragic — nay, operatic — narrative that I was unable to put down. And also caused me to think/dream in sing-songy rhymes... a side effect well worth it for this gem. It's a quick read, and such an impressive piece of writing (seriously, how can someone rhyme that much AND write well AND be witty AND make me tear up?? Sheesh). Just read it, and stick with it. You won't be disappointed.

I never even met David Rakoff and sometimes out of the blue I still feel really sad that he died. TOO SOON :'(

Anyway, I'm not a devotee of poetry by any means, and there are few circumstances under which I'd pick up a novel written entirely in rhyming couplets. But “David Rakoff's last book” is one of those circumstances, and I loved it. A bit of this was in the Frenemies episode of This American Life ( http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/389/frenemies )–the Scorpion and the Tortois story, which I loved at the time. And thanks to TAL, I was able to hear this whole book in my head in David Rakoff's voice.

This is a series of poetic interludes about different characters whose lives are linked. So, for example, Nathan's story (The Scorpion and the Tortoise wedding toast) is preceded by Susan's story (his ex-girlfriend) and followed by Joshua's (his ex-best friend, now married to his ex-girlfriend). But some of the links are more distant, and I almost cried when I realized at the end how they all relate. I'm almost crying now. Dammit!

Anyway, this is all very Rakoffian–hilarious and humane. He's very insightful, which makes for good humor about people's quirks & foibles, but ultimately he's sympathetic toward all these characters, which means the reader is too. Actually okay, the back cover blurb says “Rakoff's insistence on beauty and the necessity of kindness in a selfish world raises the novel far above mere satire,” and I'll co-sign that.

This was a fairly short & fast read, but it packed a huge emotional punch. (Also it's short enough that the rhyming couplets never felt gimmicky to me.)

Oh also there are illustrations by Seth (apparently he's a one name only artist? Which I didn't think you could be if your name was Seth, but this guy's going for it), which I liked and thought looked kind of familiar, and then I got to the About the author/illustrator section and realized he's doing the art for the new Lemony Snicket books. Cool!

When I opened the book I was surprised to see
That it was written in verse, yet the mystery
Of little Margaret and her flaming red hair,
Ended abruptly, with piqued interest - already drawn to the lair,
I kept reading on, I was a bit saddened to find
‘twasn't a novel I'd read, but short stories whose characters' lives intertwined.
That aside, I enjoyed it a lot.
Some of the characters will not soon be forgot.  
Margaret's mom, in denial, comes to my mind.
She made me so mad, she made my teeth grind.
Clifford's dreams and aspirations I wish had been realized.
Lest we forget his father: eyes full of life, body paralyzed. 
But when I think back to my favorite of all,
It is young man Nathan who answers the call. 
Duped to make a speech at his ex-girlfriend's wedding,
The ex thought she'd have a laugh hearing him stutter and watching his face reddening. 
But he had the last laugh. He was a pip.
He exposed her for who she was – man, he let it rip! 
Moral of the story: karma's a bitch, you cheating cow!
Nathan, good job! G'head, take a bow.