This book is part exegesis, part coming of age, and part farce. It is full of self-absorbed people, institutions that reflect the same, well-meaning Jews, and even a little Kabbalistic magic.It also casts a light on the “things down below”—be they our personal plumbing, a secretly SM retirement home with senior ciizens dressed in black leather, angelic drug dealers, or unresolved family dynamics.
Because of Sarassine’s unrelentingly honest voice, this is probably best described as a YA book. Sarassine has a condition I’ve never heard of called dyspraxia, which makes it hard for her to learn certain things, and physically awkward. Those of us who survived adolescence might vaguely recall Sam’s experience of a first kiss, her willingness to forgive her parents for their non-parenting, and her openness to the many and varied characters that people Los Angeles today.
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