Dream House
Valerie Laken
Due to its vivid Ann Arbor setting and the fact that it was blurbed by a former professor of mine, it is incredibly difficult for me to give this book an entirely fair shake, so I'll attempt to get my most biased comments in during this first paragraph. It's extremely odd to read a book set in a city I have come to know so well, often with areas and landmarks that I see almost every day, and while most details were drawn directly from life (including street names), the street that holds the book's pivotal setting doesn't actually exist. This, coupled with a tendency to thinly veil certain locations (LeMar's instead of Meijer when Wal-Mart is mentioned just half a page later, and groan-inducing pun Frontier High as a stand-in for Pioneer), made the reading process go a bit less smoothly for me. When I realized that Laken had renamed the high school a mile away from me, I had to set the book down and actually laugh at the audacity of the new name. Additionally, it's especially painful to read blistering social commentary aimed directly at your neighbors and yourself. Perhaps this speaks to my own priveliged position, but it seems like it's laid on thick at times, and when it comes to Ypsilanti and Eastern, Laken can be quite scathing (but perhaps, after all, she's right). It's impossible not to be biased when a town you know intimately and love is so vividly portrayed, but Laken does a good job using Ann Arbor to examine racial and socioeconomic residential patterns of the past two decades; I'm not sure that readers unfamiliar with the area will get the full picture as well, but for those in the know Laken paints a fairly accurate portrait.
That said, this book is rather ambitious for its relatively small size, and its high aspirations often overshadow its actual accomplishments. Laken is torn between writing a novel about a priveliged white couple whose marriage is falling apart and a scathing portrait of residential inequality personified by the struggles of a disadvantaged black man to maintain the American Dream his father began to build. The book is all about building and centers around a house and a grisly crime committed therein; though all of its characters belong in a web of connections centering on this hub, their interactions often feel forced and unrealistic. Additionally, the first portion of the book (after its prologue) revolves entirely on two characters, only to branch out awkwardly later. Point-of-view shifts are often jarring and confusing, particularly after one character's story continues long after he has seemingly severed his connections to the house. The book does its job as an in-depth character study of two, maybe three people, but their stories could have been juggled with a better view toward the whole. This effect is achieved a few times near the end of the book where the point of view shifts as with a camera angle in a scene, but the beginning of the book feels disjointed both in its distinct parts and the second half that follows.
That said, however, Dream House is an interesting character portrait that quite adeptly tackles the American ideal of home ownership, especially timely since the economy has tanked and foreclosures are on a meteoric rise. Its characters and setting are vivid and believable, even if their situations often are not (though if Pioneer teachers really break in and throw a party, I am totally changing my career path). The book's conclusion is fitting in retrospect but still feels forced as it plays out in real time (and animal lovers beware, I'm still pissed that she kills the dog). Dream House is filled with not-so-subtle social commentary that occasionally veers into Obvious Hammer territory but which is often insightful and thought-provoking. Laken takes a considerable risk making none of her characters entirely likeable, but that risk pays off as they become even more intriguing and real because of their far-too-human flaws. Despite its occasional missteps and larger plotting awkwardness, Dream House is a page-turner that I devoured in about three sittings. It is, at times, extremely gripping and provides a great portrait of disaffected but not-too-cynical suburban malaise without succumbing entirely to cliche. Its writing is fresh and crisp and happily readable despite its litfic overtures. Dream House is an unforgiving and refreshingly new view of the American Dream and some of its less-noted ramifications through recent decade.
Grade: B+
Valerie Laken
Due to its vivid Ann Arbor setting and the fact that it was blurbed by a former professor of mine, it is incredibly difficult for me to give this book an entirely fair shake, so I'll attempt to get my most biased comments in during this first paragraph. It's extremely odd to read a book set in a city I have come to know so well, often with areas and landmarks that I see almost every day, and while most details were drawn directly from life (including street names), the street that holds the book's pivotal setting doesn't actually exist. This, coupled with a tendency to thinly veil certain locations (LeMar's instead of Meijer when Wal-Mart is mentioned just half a page later, and groan-inducing pun Frontier High as a stand-in for Pioneer), made the reading process go a bit less smoothly for me. When I realized that Laken had renamed the high school a mile away from me, I had to set the book down and actually laugh at the audacity of the new name. Additionally, it's especially painful to read blistering social commentary aimed directly at your neighbors and yourself. Perhaps this speaks to my own priveliged position, but it seems like it's laid on thick at times, and when it comes to Ypsilanti and Eastern, Laken can be quite scathing (but perhaps, after all, she's right). It's impossible not to be biased when a town you know intimately and love is so vividly portrayed, but Laken does a good job using Ann Arbor to examine racial and socioeconomic residential patterns of the past two decades; I'm not sure that readers unfamiliar with the area will get the full picture as well, but for those in the know Laken paints a fairly accurate portrait.
That said, this book is rather ambitious for its relatively small size, and its high aspirations often overshadow its actual accomplishments. Laken is torn between writing a novel about a priveliged white couple whose marriage is falling apart and a scathing portrait of residential inequality personified by the struggles of a disadvantaged black man to maintain the American Dream his father began to build. The book is all about building and centers around a house and a grisly crime committed therein; though all of its characters belong in a web of connections centering on this hub, their interactions often feel forced and unrealistic. Additionally, the first portion of the book (after its prologue) revolves entirely on two characters, only to branch out awkwardly later. Point-of-view shifts are often jarring and confusing, particularly after one character's story continues long after he has seemingly severed his connections to the house. The book does its job as an in-depth character study of two, maybe three people, but their stories could have been juggled with a better view toward the whole. This effect is achieved a few times near the end of the book where the point of view shifts as with a camera angle in a scene, but the beginning of the book feels disjointed both in its distinct parts and the second half that follows.
That said, however, Dream House is an interesting character portrait that quite adeptly tackles the American ideal of home ownership, especially timely since the economy has tanked and foreclosures are on a meteoric rise. Its characters and setting are vivid and believable, even if their situations often are not (though if Pioneer teachers really break in and throw a party, I am totally changing my career path). The book's conclusion is fitting in retrospect but still feels forced as it plays out in real time (and animal lovers beware, I'm still pissed that she kills the dog). Dream House is filled with not-so-subtle social commentary that occasionally veers into Obvious Hammer territory but which is often insightful and thought-provoking. Laken takes a considerable risk making none of her characters entirely likeable, but that risk pays off as they become even more intriguing and real because of their far-too-human flaws. Despite its occasional missteps and larger plotting awkwardness, Dream House is a page-turner that I devoured in about three sittings. It is, at times, extremely gripping and provides a great portrait of disaffected but not-too-cynical suburban malaise without succumbing entirely to cliche. Its writing is fresh and crisp and happily readable despite its litfic overtures. Dream House is an unforgiving and refreshingly new view of the American Dream and some of its less-noted ramifications through recent decade.
Grade: B+
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