Mail

I doesn't get any better than MAIL. A freelance writer who turns her obsession with mail into an obsession with her mailman who is 100 percent MALE. A mother and daughter having simultaneous affairs in the same apartment building. Mameve Medwed's first novel is quirky, brilliant, hysterically funny. A fabulous read.

I recently started this book on an airplane and, for the first time, I wanted to stay in the air as long as possible. Katinka O'Toole is a deeply complex character whose daily struggles with the pressures of familial and social expectations are presented with wit and humor. She is surrounded by a cast of characters all of whom are colorfully painted by Medwed. In fact, the author is even able to breathe life into a sack of flour. The theme of class and status inherent in this novel adds a level of depth and intellect to an already entertaining story.

Such a funny, smart, satisfying novel! I rooted for its heroes, with all their lovable warts and failings, and laughed aloud at the sly social satire that captures a Joyce scholar/pompous ex-husband and a socially ambitious widowed mother in all their meddlesome glory. Delicious, warm and insightful like the best company. I recommend MAIL wherever I go, and delight in finding a friend who hasn't read it so I can wrap one up!

Medwed is a writer's writer. Her characters are utterly believable, the dialogue is convincing, and anyone who says they didn't like this book is just plain jealous.