I would say that A Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton was a “summer read” but if it takes you all summer to read this, I’m worried about you.
Although, wait, that is not a nice thing to say.
Let’s backtrack. There was a very cruel but stylish review of Jessie Burton’s new book in the paper the other day, which (among other things) lamented the idea of “summer reads”, suggesting that if summer is the one time when you are reading, all hope for you is lost.
The snob in me agreed with this but I also know that there are many erudite, smart - dare I say it, intellectual - adults who don’t have a lifestyle where they can sit about reading for entertainment alone. The necessary demands of their job mean that leisure reading is an activity that can often only be pursued on a summer holiday.
So, I revise my original statement. If you are looking for a book to read on your holiday this year, read this. Although it is so good, such a racing caper, that you are likely to finish it on the plane ride out.
Chrysta Bilton’s memoir, A Normal Family, is about her very non-normal upbringing. Her mother, the daughter of a well to-do all-American family is a bit of a live wire and decides that she wants to have a child on her own. As she is a committed lesbian she must think laterally, as options are limited in the 80s. She ends up paying a very handsome man she meets in a hair salon for some of his sperm.
The resulting child is Chrysta, and then another, Kaitlyn, and this book details life with their mother, Debra. She sort of bounces around resourcefully on the suck and swell of life, boinging from one girlfriend to another. There are palatial mansions and white Mercedes cars when things are good, tin shacks when they aren’t.
And then it turns out that Chrysta’s sperm donor dad goes on to become one of the most prolific sperm donators in America, the infamous “Donor 150”. Bilton discovers she has tens, perhaps hundreds, of half-siblings.
Even if Bilton wasn’t such a dazzlingly good writer, the plain facts of this story would be jaw-dropping, but on top of the simple facts of the matter Bilton is brilliant and deft at her craft, yet not afraid to occasionally deploy a cheesy cliff-hanger, such as this:
Two weeks later, [my mother] walked into my bathroom as I was getting ready for bed. She took at deep breath and crouched down on the floor next to where I was standing.
“I will tell you what happened to my father,” she said.
I mean, how can you not read on? Bilton doesn’t need to bother with this sort of tease but does anyway, just to be fun.
I have got so little to read at the moment that I really ought to have eked this out for longer but couldn’t. Give it a whirl.
Other business:
1 The Gray Man on Netflix starring Ryan Gosling is a tolerably entertaining shoot ‘em up, a cross between The Bourne Identity and Deadpool - if that’s your thing.
2 I have got high hopes for these Eco-Sponges I just bought.
3 Do you have one of those council-issued brown food waste pails that becomes gaggingly gross in the summer? My top tip is to buy some wood-pellet cat litter and fill the bottom of the pail with about two inches of it. This will make the pail smell woody and sweet and soak up gross bin slime in a pleasingly eco way, as it can be composted along with all the food waste when the bin guys empty it.
4 And if you aren’t familiar yet with Tom Gauld, change that! I have just pre-ordered his new book Revenge Of The Librarians.
Please note: I have applied Amazon links for illustration only - they are not affiliate so please do purchase from wherever you like.
That’s all from me this week. Over to you. Read any good books lately? Or do you have any other business to add to the list? Please leave a comment in the handy box below.
Thanks for this recommendation - I am one of your time-poor people who can’t bear to read something rubbish or too hard as one of the handful of books I have time for each summer holiday. This was just right and I really enjoyed it. But boy do they do a lot of addictions in California...
Saw that the book’s author was on Woman’s Hour and thought her life sounded interesting, will definitely read now you’ve recommended. Thank you.
Currently on a beach in Greece and just raced through Daughters of Night, a Georgian detective story and not my usual thing at all but I really enjoyed it.
Seep sponges are great and work for us, would recommend. The bin liners however tear easily and lead to lots of swearing in our house. I double bag, which makes it even more expensive to be eco!