
Mary Robison's novel 'Why Did I Ever' is a unique and fragmented narrative that delves into the life of Money Breton, a divorced mother juggling multiple crises while dealing with her troubled children and dysfunctional relationships. The book is written in a stream-of-consciousness style, with numbered chapters resembling diary entries, providing glimpses into Money's chaotic life filled with nocturnal drives, sad children, and personal struggles. Despite the lack of a traditional plot, the novel weaves together emotions and thoughts to portray the disparate and fragmented nature of memory and human experience.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book includes content warnings for trauma, sexual assault, substance abuse, and mental health issues.
Has Romance?
While the focus is not primarily on romance, relationships play a significant role in the narrative, making the presence of romance medium.
From The Publisher:
After a ten-year silence, Mary Robison has emerged with a novel so beguiling and funny that it has brought critics and her live-reading audiences to their feet. Why Did I Ever takes us along on the darkest of private journeys. The story, told by a woman named Money Breton, is submitted like a furious and persuasive diary-a tale as fierce and taut as its fictional teller.
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About the Author:
Mary Robison was born in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Johns Hopkins, where she studied with John Barth. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, an O. Henry Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. She is the author of three previous novels, Oh! (1981), Subtraction (1991), and Why Did I Ever (2001), and of four story collections, Days (1979), An Amateur's Guide to the Night (1983), Believe Them (1988), and Tell Me (2002). Robison has written for Hollywood and has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 1977. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.
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