Innocents and Others

Book Review

Innocents and Others

Dana Spiotta

To be honest I was tempted NOT to finish reading. Then I had to ask myself—is it that I’m hating this book or is it making me feel uncomfortable. The latter, so I returned to finish it. So glad.

This is a book about disturbing self-realization, about loneliness, and the hunger for intimacy—our fantasies and fears about it. Nothing sends me into a spiral as much as loneliness. Just saying the word is enough to bring tears to my eyes. They’re there, just below the surface.

Fame is one of the underlying messages of the plot: what’s it good for, where does it get us? Andy Warhol once said: Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.

The novel works through a process of confession, small incremental revelations. In the end all we can sometimes manage is a bit of good. Not always redemption but a similitude of absolution.