Fin
I just finished the book yesterday. I know lots of folks are still just digging in, so I won’t comment on any of the final passages yet. I had a couple minor but continuous issues with the book that I was able to generally ignore because Bock writes so well. I’ll hold off on diving into most specifics until people are further along, but one thing I’ll mention is that it felt like it could be set anywhere. I realize that Bock is from las vegas and is therefore comfortable writing about it, but I had a hard time feeling like I had a sense of where we were, particularly during some of the scenes where location was front and center, like the Strip or the Pawn Shop or the Desert. Contrast that with Tree of Smoke or anything by Cormac McCarthy where you have a pretty amazingly detailed feel for setting. I only mention this because the setting here seems important to Bock.
Nonetheless, I generally loved the book. Bock writes beautifully, and all of his characters, even those farthest out on the fringe, are elegantly rendered. The interactions between the characters are brilliantly drawn, and Bock deftly handles the sometimes trite device of hurtling back and forth in time.
His contrast of Cheri’s “i’m in control” inner thoughts set against her very much not-in-control behavior was particularly outstanding.
As a total aside, I wish some of the people who write blurbs on the back cover would bother to read the book. “Sexy” is not a word I would use to describe any passage in Beautiful Children.