Imperfect Birds
Fans of Anne Lamott 鈥� and they are legion 鈥� will be delighted to hear a favorite author鈥檚 voice in her latest novel, Imperfect Birds. Unfortunately, all the characters have Lamott鈥檚 voice. As a work of fiction, the book suffers from too much of a single note, even if that note often rings with Lamott鈥檚 wisdom and humor.
鈥淚mperfect Birds鈥� reconvenes the characters in two previous novels, 鈥淩osie鈥� and 鈥淐rooked Little Heart.鈥� More than 20 years have passed, and widowed Elizabeth and her second husband, James, are now nearing their 50s. They鈥檙e raising Elizabeth鈥檚 17-year-old daughter, Rosie, in a bucolic town near the San Francisco Bay, where no one seems to work in an office and everyone goes to AA.
Trouble in paradise is established in Chapter 1, when Rosie fails to show up on time for a shopping spree with her parents. Elizabeth鈥檚 mind wanders. Her thoughts extend to her and James鈥檚 aging bodies 鈥� 鈥渢hey had problems now in areas where they hardly used to have areas鈥� 鈥� and to the disturbing information she uncovered in her daughter鈥檚 diary: 鈥淪he had had to do Lamaze鈥� after reading about her daughter鈥檚 sexual activity. The one-liners are funny, but they don鈥檛 push the story forward.
Eventually Rosie shows up, breathless and full of apologies. Elizabeth and James relent. The rest of the book follows this same pattern: a problem is introduced, the characters mull, and the issue is diffused without being resolved. Admittedly, this pattern might be called 鈥渓ife鈥�; however, in a novel, it can be unsatisfying and shaggy.
As with many of Lamott鈥檚 books, the theme of 鈥淚mperfect Birds鈥� is the temptation to self-medicate. Elizabeth, a recovering alcoholic, can鈥檛 quite stay on the wagon. Rosie is smuggling Valium in her designer jeans and getting high on stevia, 鈥檚hrooms, and Ectasy. Since the point of view shifts between Elizabeth and Rosie, the reader is not surprised by Rosie鈥檚 drug habits. Elizabeth shouldn鈥檛 be surprised either, since Rosie confesses all in her diary. Yet, Elizabeth turns a blind eye. Instead of confronting the problem she fusses and frets, throwing her energy into editing her husband鈥檚 radio essays for National Public Radio and making organic meals, whose menus are often described on the page. Relieved of suspense, the narration concerns itself mainly with ruminations about addiction, adolescence, and the possibility of God.
In Lamott鈥檚 first-person essays, these ruminations are often enlightening and hilarious. In 鈥淚mperfect Birds,鈥� they are marred by characters who lack the self-awareness and charm to carry them off. In one pivotal scene Elizabeth is shocked and horrified when Rosie refuses to eat her scallops. But a few chapters later, she nonchalantly picks up a drug-testing kit at the pharmacy and watches her daughter provide a urine sample. For Elizabeth, Rosie鈥檚 emotional separation cuts deeper than her addiction behavior; however, readers who are less inured to drug abuse may find Elizabeth鈥檚 attitude bewildering. And the appearance of a privileged lifestyle 鈥� scallops and matinee movies and hot chocolate at the Roastery 鈥� can make James and Elizabeth鈥檚 anxiety that they don鈥檛 have enough money to send Rosie to a treatment facility less poignant.
This is too bad, because Lamott is describing a young woman at risk and adults who care deeply about her. Readers who identify with growing up or raising children in a middle-class, drug-riddled environment may find particular solace in Lamott鈥檚 observations; nevertheless, many of them are credited to Alcoholics Anonymous. Many more are credited to other characters in the book. (鈥� [A teenager] is South Africa before the revolution, cruel and crazy,鈥� one of Elizabeth鈥檚 friends says in another great one-liner. 鈥淒ivest! Divest!鈥�)
Eventually, all the sympathy and wit threaten to overwhelm the scenario. With so many characters struggling with their own addictions, attending meetings, and commenting on one another鈥檚 progress, by the end of 鈥淚mperfect Birds鈥� I, too, was ready to leave the nest.
Kelly Nuxoll is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.
