Title: Little Children
Author: Tom Perrotta
Review: Ah, shit. This was disturbing and fantastic, sad and funny, everything I wanted it to be and still strangely disappointing. Perhaps that’s part & parcel with the storyline. Stay-at-home mom Sarah is unhappy in her marriage to Richard. Richard is in his second marriage, and only recently realized that he didn’t really do it right either time. Todd is "The Prom King", a stay-at-home dad who watches the skaters at the library and plays tackle touch football while he pretending to study for the bar exam--for the third time. His wife Kathy produces documentaries on WWII veterans and gripes at him, increasingly loudly, about his lack of ambition. Ronnie is a convicted child sex offender whose presence in town has heightened tensions, particularly for Larry, whose marriage just exploded. When Todd and Sarah drift, quite unintentionally yet very happily, into an affair, it changes things for everyone.
I love the way that he writes. More than many contemporary authors, what he chooses to leave out is as important as what he chooses to address. Sarah, for instance, experienced a brief 'flirtation' with bisexuality, but she’s still able to be a stunning combination of innocence and raw need. Todd should be a cartoon, but because he’s revealed only tiny bit by tiny bit, he remains fresh and clean and appealing. Even Ronnie, the bleak and unforgivable character, is perhaps more sympathetic than Larry, his nemesis. There's so much nuance and depth that I can't wait to forget exactly what happened--so I can read it again.
Rate: On my 10-point scale, it rates an 8. Totally subjective, not really explainable. I really liked it but didn't love it. Maybe it's because I so adored Joe College that I didn't give this a higher rating.
