Mother's Milk is the fourth of Edward St. Aubyn's Patrick Melrose novels. The book may be somewhat uneven, but nonetheless it is St. Aubyn in his most cynical and writerly mode, and as such it is not to be missed. I won't go into the particulars. I've blogged about the previous three books, and this one is no different. The writing is a joy, the outlook anything but joyful. I suspect this is not for most female readers, but I would happily be corrected on that score. In this book we witness scathing prose on a young child's view of the world, motherhood, long-term marriage, alcoholism, sexual desire, philanthropy, assisted suicide, and American culture in general.
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| Edward St. Aubyn |
It's a short book that won't hold you up for long, but there are so so many gems to be examined and reexamined along the way. As you please ... go straight through or dally along the jaded way.
If you haven't read the Patrick Melrose books, you're missing something important. They may not be your cup of tea in some ways, but no serious reader should be without that particular tasting experience.
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