BLAME

After loving Michelle Huneven’s first two novels, Round Rock and especially Jamesland, I’ve been waiting for her to come out with a new one ever since I moved to L.A., her home turf, so that she would do a reading and I could go see her. Well, finally she complied, and I did indeed meet her and get my copy of Jamesland signed at my local independent bookstore. The story of a thirtysomething academic who’s also a blackout drunk, wakes up in jail one morning, and is told she killed two pedestrians with her car the night before, Blame combines many of Huneven’s usual themes (specifically, addiction and recovery) with the fascinating details of Patsy’s experiences in prison (including a stint as a volunteer firefighter—California really does use convicts to fight wildfires) and as an ex-con. The plot meanders a bit and ends up spanning decades, but that’s because Huneven’s real concern is far-reaching: how people go about building meaningful lives and forging bonds with others, particularly in the midst of chaos and tragedy. As always, Huneven writes beautifully and creates compelling characters, and overall I loved the book (maybe not quite as much as Jamesland—but I need to reread it before I can make that claim definitive). As a bonus, the book is set in Pasadena and Altadena, so I got a particular thrill out of seeing my town portrayed in fiction (Pie-n-Burger, represent!).