Beartown

If books can be described as windows or mirrors then for me this book falls into the windows category as I would have never chosen to read this book if it wasn't selected by the bookclub. I am pleased it was as I think its a brilliant work of literary fiction. I am happy to categorize it as that because of the literary touches such as some characters are referred to but are never given names: the colleague, the girlfriend (and before I could think its a gender thing0 the guy in the black Saab). The focus on a sports team but without encountering a game until a quarter of the way through the story.

I loved how all the book is all about the small town and hockey and how its all a matter of clichés: its all about the team, were are a hockey town, etc but also interrogates what those trite basis for your life end up meaning. The story focuses on the relationships to each other, some helpful, some negative (making your your son walk miles home through snow because he got lost at a market and was 5 minutes late returning to the car is a dick move Kevin's Dad) and how these can change. Also kudos for choosing to show just how shit the legal/police system is when it comes to rape. Author could have chosen to put a spin on it but no one I know or respect believes the police/legal system are anything but shit when it comes to this.

As I mentioned its a bookclub book so I won't record much here but it was a suprisingly engaging worthwhile read for me.