Review – Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
It must have been pure coincidence that I won Geek Love by Katherine Dunn from softdrink at Fizzy Thoughts, because of all the books in the world, we ended up picking it for our book club. And if I told you the premise of the book, you’d be all, WTF*? You picked THAT? So just lay that thought aside and hear me out.
Geek Love is about the Binewski family, Aloysius and his wife, Lillian (Lil for short), who decided to create their own “freak show” or circus act by “experimenting with illicit and prescription drugs, insecticides, and eventually radioisotopes” while Lil was pregnant. Their innovations netted them five children: Arturo, whose hands and feet were flippers that grew right out of his body since he had no arms and no legs…it’s no stretch that his nickname was Aqua Boy; then there was the Siamese twins, Electra and Iphigenia, joined at the waist, with separate torsos but sharing one set of hips and legs, who were beautiful and did piano duets; Olympia (Oly), the narrator, is a hunchback albino dwarf who isn’t quite freakish enough for the family she’s born into, so instead of having her own show, she sells tickets to shows her siblings put on; and finally, there’s Forunato, nicknamed Chick, who appeared normal at birth, causing his parents to consider giving him up to a “normal” family, until they found out he was telekinetic.
All that information just gets you going into the story. Right away you find out that Oly has a child that she gave up for adoption but is living in the same house with, both of them renting separate rooms. Oly is remembering her history, all the while trying to help her daughter without revealing that she’s her mother. As Oly reveals more and more of her family’s dynamics, you find out just how dysfunctional her family was as her parents cede more and more control to her egomaniacal brother, Arturo.
When you peel back all the freakish layers the author has piled on, at the heart of the story are very basic themes: sibling rivalry, love (motherly love, love towards your siblings, etc), the desire to fit in coupled with the desire to be unique, etc.
General opinion about Arty varies, from those who see him as a profound humanitarian to those who view him as a ruthless reptile. I myself have held most of the opinions in this spectrum at one time or another. Watching Arty pine for Iphy, however, I come to see him as just a regular Joe – jealous, bitter, possessive, competitive, in a constant frenzy to disguise his lack of self-esteem, drowning in deadly love, and utterly unable to prevent himself from gorging on the coals of hell in his search for revenge.
We had what I thought was a really good discussion over this book at the book club meeting. Unfortunately, even though there were people who didn’t care for the book, they didn’t really have a reason other than being unable to get past all the freakishness. If you can suspend disbelief (because really. Aqua Boy?) and just let the story be, then there’s so much there to think about!
I pointed out how similar Arturo and Kevin from We Need to Talk About Kevin were. Both of them were psychotic and had an uncanny ability to charm those around them. Last year we read Stones From the River, which is about a German dwarf, and Geek Love has Oly, also a dwarf.
What I also found fascinating was how Oly, while proud to be different, proud to be a freak, was at the same time constantly searching for acceptance and a sense of belonging. Being unique does not preclude someone from wanting to fit in.
I thought the author’s writing was excellent. She has the kind of writing that will make you think it’s effortless. The writing isn’t pretentious, but I wouldn’t say its simple, either. Katherine Dunn deftly weaves an intricate family story that keeps the reader engaged and fascinated.
Rating: 92 out of 100
This is a great interview with Katherine Dunn.
GUESS WHO’LL BE AT THE LA TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS??? I’m so stoked because I’m hoping she’ll talk about the novel she’s currently working on, The Cut Man.
Buy Geek Love at Powell’s | Buy Geek Love at Amazon
Other reviews:
*WTF translates, in my head, to what the frack. Or what the fudgesicle. Or what the eff.
| Tags: Book Clubs, book review, Books, circus freaks, geek love, katherine dunn 34 comments »
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:06 am
Great review, Trish. I’m glad you liked the book..I read it years ago when it was originally released. You summed it up quite well…WTF? But I agree..it was very well written, a very good book overall.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:16 am
I haven’t read this but always meant to. Nice review — now I’m extra curious about it.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 am
I read this a few years ago (review here), and was absolutely fascinated by it. I have a hard time saying that I liked it, because by the end I wound up hating just about every character except for Chick, but I couldn’t tear myself away, either. Definitely one of the most unique books I’ve ever read – I think this would be great for a book club!
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:17 am
Great review. Never heard of this book, but sounds very interesting.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:18 am
Oh my gosh, what a story line! That one definitely sounds like it could be interesting. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:29 am
I LOVE this book!!! Thanks for reviewing it. I thought the idea of creating a freak family was so cool. And Artie’s a great, if evil, character. It’s just mesmerizing. Have you seen Tod Browning’s Freaks?
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
No, I haven’t! Should I google it?
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:58 am
I read this book quite a few years ago and absolutely loved it! It is freakish, and weird, and very very interesting. The twist at the end really had me glued to the page. I am so glad you reviewed this book, it’s one of my favorites. Great non-spoilery review as well, btw.
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
I’m glad the review didn’t spoil anything. I tried not to! I appreciate your kudos.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:44 am
This is my brother’s favorite book!! He usually doesn’t steer me wrong, but I still haven’t had a chance to read it. Nice review!
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:55 am
TWIN BRAINS! This has been on my self for the last 3 weeks. Except that I didn’t get around to reading it, but I TOTALLY INTEND TO! It came up due at the library, and I LITERALLY spend all day writing papers now.
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
You should check the book out again. I’d totally pass my copy on to you…but I kinda dig the whole book, cover included. So get ye back to the library!
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Interesting review. I’ve almost bought this book half a dozen times in the years since it was published but was never quite sure if I wanted to make the plunge. Maybe I’ll put it on my TBR list after all.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
This is one of my favorite novels of all time, so I’m really glad you liked it Trish!
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I’ll never doubt you again, Book Master.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
This was one of my top reads from last year! and this was a fabulous review.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:54 pm
A very excellent review! I’m glad you liked it better than I. It was just a bit too- freakish- for me. Especially the parents’ behavior.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:37 pm
whaaaaaaaaaat? i can’t even wrap my head around the review. they did WHAT? their kids are WHAT? hysterical! now i have to read it.
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Artie’s definitely the weirdest character. You’d get a kick out of him. The author *obviously* had fun with him.
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:36 pm
O.k. the weirdness of it all may be hard to get past at first but after reading your review, I think I could do that and just read the book for what it is. Thanks for a heads up on this one!
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Now that I’ve read a few posts on your blog, I am just in love with your writing style. This books sounds great to me! What a family if being an albino hunchbacked dwarf isn’t weird enough! And, unlike my husband who is so realistic and analytical, I am totally willing to suspend belief in things that “could never happen” to enjoy a good story. I will be adding this to my wish list! Thank you.
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Someone loves me! *skipping off to love you back*
[Reply]
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I had *no* idea what this was about! Great review. I’m thinking about reading this one.
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
What more must I say, woman?! Go read this book!
[Reply]
April 4th, 2009 at 8:31 am
I looved this book, and it’s not a very well-known book either, so it’s cool that you read it and gushed so much.
I agree with you about those who don’t like it – it’s usually because of the freakishness, but if you can get over that and just think of the real themes running through the book, it’s fantastic.
Great review!
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I can’t wait to meet the author. She seems like a really neat person.
[Reply]
April 4th, 2009 at 8:41 am
I’ve heard so much about this book, but I didn’t know what it was about. Thanks for letting me know! Now I’m prepared so I won’t be turned off by the freakishness when I get !around to reading it. (Though really, it takes a lot to turn me off)
[Reply]
April 5th, 2009 at 6:31 am
I have this one in my TBR pile. I’ve heard it’s dark and disturbing, but oh so good. I’m glad you enjoyed it – in general my book club tends to hate the books that are picked!
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Dark + disturbing = yummy book goodness.
Seriously, though, knowing what I know about you, you should try this book.
[Reply]
April 5th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Holy cow that is a crazy set up for a novel. I am completely hooked on the idea now. Right onto the wishlist!
[Reply]
April 6th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Yup, this is why I read book reviews. Because if I came across this book by accident, I think it might have given me nightmares for months….*shudder*
Thanks for the review Trish!
[Reply]
trish Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I probably wouldn’t have read it either if I hadn’t won it from Jill. Good thing I’ve got friends with good literary taste!
[Reply]
April 30th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Geek Love is one of my all time favorite novels. It is just so weird and so disturbingly plausible that I still think of it occasionally, which I don’t normally do. Once I’m done with something I usually forget about it unless it was really, really good. Geek Love is one of those really, really good ones.
[Reply]
March 6th, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Tell me everything you know about Fortunato, now.
[Reply]