Subtraction

I recently went on a road trip and this book was perfect for it. Mary Robison created such vivid characters in Paige, her parents; also Pru and Raymond. Raf was vivid too, but not in a good way. It's a perfect example of a career alcoholic who will tell you he's going out for a pack of cigarettes, and for the next 6 months or so drops off the face of the earth. I guess Paige didn't know when she was well-off. But then there wouldn't be this wild wonderful trip she went on, in search of Raf's worthless belligerent self-- the descriptions of Houston, of travelling in storms, the assorted people (all more or less "off the grid") she meets. The account of being snow-bound in a New England Inn (where mom Dottie manages)is especially compelling, capturing the eerie power of the North Atlantic winters I remember so well. Robison is a great writer. I read her for the first time in a "Short Short Story" anthology and was hooked ever since. I can't wait to hear more from her.