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A review by gslife
City of Truth by James Morrow
5.0
City of Truth is the first of what I hope will be many great book recommendations (she has Good Opinions) from my new book-best friend Lauren (as she's the only other person I interact with in a regular basis that reads books).
James Morrow's premise of a city where only the truth can be told starts as a satiric comedy. The cars have names like “Plymouth Adequate”; the protagonist's son attends “Camp Ditch-the-Kids”. However, a few chapters in, the transition to a tragedy begins. Suffice to say that nothing in fiction cuts me emotionally like fathers grieving for their children (see *Lost Boys*, *Pet Semetary*).
Morrow accomplishes a great feat of narrative also. Similes are used only as an examples of lies in chapter one, but by the fourth chapter, the narrator has passed from narrative similes to using full metaphors in his speech. His tight mask of truth has cracked, and he hasn't yet caught on.
The book is short (at under 175 pages), but Morrow packs so much in that its brevity is an asset. Lesser authors might have expanded the last few pages to a full chapter, but Morrow understands that after an emotional roller-coaster (yes, I cried, for the first time in a long while at a book) readers can connect many implied dots from action to action. It's my first book by Mr. Morrow, but I'll definitely be back (likely with Galapagos Regained; it's the one Lauren has been hyping).
James Morrow's premise of a city where only the truth can be told starts as a satiric comedy. The cars have names like “Plymouth Adequate”; the protagonist's son attends “Camp Ditch-the-Kids”. However, a few chapters in, the transition to a tragedy begins. Suffice to say that nothing in fiction cuts me emotionally like fathers grieving for their children (see *Lost Boys*, *Pet Semetary*).
Morrow accomplishes a great feat of narrative also. Similes are used only as an examples of lies in chapter one, but by the fourth chapter, the narrator has passed from narrative similes to using full metaphors in his speech. His tight mask of truth has cracked, and he hasn't yet caught on.
The book is short (at under 175 pages), but Morrow packs so much in that its brevity is an asset. Lesser authors might have expanded the last few pages to a full chapter, but Morrow understands that after an emotional roller-coaster (yes, I cried, for the first time in a long while at a book) readers can connect many implied dots from action to action. It's my first book by Mr. Morrow, but I'll definitely be back (likely with Galapagos Regained; it's the one Lauren has been hyping).