#mfw when im 40 and still not a man. living a half life: grrr (steals your wife)

[mood2you]

The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett

Book Review Reviews: answering 1-star reviews questions or formatting them into questions to answer. This has spoilers... go read it and come back!

Is this really Ann Patchett? This is only her third novel.

Why was the story only mildly intriguing? Why 350 pages when the book can be summed in one paragraph? It's basically one long joke, but you need all that time to get the characters to trust each other, so it can't be a short story.

Why was Sabine satisfied with living a half-life? This is a really good question, and several reviewers give evidence: only the assistant, married to a gay man, makes architectural models, not buildings. I didn't notice. I have 3 guesses: she's repressed, perhaps she's waiting for something. She went out of her way to buy men's pants for herself, that's a different thing from wearing Phan's cloths in his memory (or in the memory of Parsifal who bought them for him on a trip etc.) Admittedly a good trans guy would start some of the discord one reviewer complained was blissfully absent from their marriage. Or she's their daughter: Phan is always kissing her forehead, now he's looking after her and reassuring her, and he's the one who wanted kids when Parsifal hates them. Parsifal was basically presenting him a mixed family, when they met. One thing about this book is it barely has any dialogues between Sabine and Parsifal, maybe Paraifal is just that great. forgot my third guess, she's aromantic. A book has 2 gay characters and you stop looking, why shouldn't the whole book be gay? Maybe reviewers are missing... something. She can't date Kitty, that's stupid, but they should stay entangled. Oh I remembered my fourth guess: much like Dot and Kitty, she made a silly choice as a 20 year old and wouldn't let go. Granted, Albert and Howard are abusive.

Why was the literary symbolism so clumsy and obvious? So that I could understand it! The reviewer points to their last name being fetter (like handcuffs, I think, as in, you will never leave our little town... unless? Unless you're Harry Houdini or the wife of Harry Houdini) but that's actually German for feather (like flying, like freedom.) Yet Parsifal doesn't do dove tricks... (I might be taking that personally, I had an OC named Jordan Fetter because I thought it was smarter than Jordan Sylvan or whatever, certainly smarter than Jordan Feather.) I was thinking about something else I noticed but forgot. I think Sabine is what makes the magic work.

How could she make the midwest into a stereotype? This may be worthy criticism. Even I was like, well this family drama is... eh. For a while this year I was of the belief that all contemporary fiction is true. So far, two of Ann Patchett's leading ladies have been from LA and one went to Tennesee and one went to Nebraska (theheretofor mentioned mid-west) when Patchett is also from LA and moved to Tennesee. Maybe I'm right and she will send characters back to the south in Taft. I think in Bel Canto (her 2nd) they go to South America, so...

Was this written by a man, how are all the girls so domestic? Even Sabine, who's always wearing men's cloths, and always living with men. Hm… Very sus to come up with this on your own

What type of woman devotes her entire life to loving a man who is gay and will never love her back the way she wants? What type indeed. And how DID she want? Compared to Phan's fatherliness, Parsifal barely had any lines and wasn't in Nebraska in his afterlife so we don't get any of his and Sabine's real relationship and maybe THAT's a glaring error. Anyways, I make jokes about Phan being jealous and that's why he took Parsifal back, but, um, it is hard to help someone die, maybe it is true that him suddenly dying is better it's like if your dad hid your mail from you, trying not to let it disappoint you, when it's up to you what you make of it.