Monday has seen me finish the book entitled The Possibility of Everything (sent to me by LibraryThing). I am in the middle of reading one non-fiction book, and one historical fiction novel. I spent several hours browsing in book stores Sunday. I came home with Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible!, by Jonathan Goldstein; and also Drawing in the Dust, by Zoe Klein.

Hope Edelman has brought the reader a unique story, and one that begs many questions, such as what is “normal”, normal in the sense of childhood behavior. It also leaves one to ponder what is “normal” in marital relationships. Edelman is married to Uzi, and they have a relationship where she is put in the position of making many of the decisions due to his work schedule…he is often out of town for extended periods. But, the primary force in the book is the behavior of their daughter, Maya.

Edelman’s daughter, Maya, has an imaginary friend named Dodo. Dodo seems to rule Maya’s every waking moment, and his influence on her is strong, controlling, and causes off the edge behavior in Maya. His influence extends to Edelman, as well as Uzi, but more pronounced in Edelman. Edelman thinks that Maya is possibly being taken over by a bad spirit.

Edelman tries to rationalize the situation, to no avail. She and Uzi take a trip to Central America, and Maya travels with them. Maya is suffering from croup, but they take her anyway, and plan to see a Shaman while there, in order to try to rid Maya of the spirit that Edelman thinks has possibly taken hold of her. Here is where the story gets involved, with all the antics Maya acts out, and the frazzled and anxiety-ridden state of being of Edelman.

I began to wonder who had the problem…was it her parents and their seemingly lack of concern as far as bringing a sick child to South America? I am not judging, but reading the book, makes the reader think of this. Everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do, and nobody is perfect. Was it Edelman’s thought process and the fact she thought Maya could possibly be controlled by a spirit. Or, was it Maya? And, did she really have a problem, other than being over-indulged by her mother, by having an active imagination, and by being a strong-willed child who exhibited extreme temper tantrums?

Read the book and decide for yourself.

Hope Edelman’s writing is fluid, vividly descriptive, and has an overtone of anxiety to it that this reader felt from the first page until the last. I was disappointed in the book, and felt that the last half of it became more of a story of the Mayan civilization, and not one of concern for her child. The book is supposedly about Maya and her imaginary friend. In fact, for me, concern would have taken a different route, and the child would have stayed home until she recovered from croup, and was in a more manageable emotional state to travel, especially travel outside the U.S.

But, then again, you, the reader, must decide for yourself. I found the book lacking, but that is my opinion.

Thank you LibraryThing for the review copy.
~~~~~~
© Copyright 2007 – All Rights Reserved – No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my express written consent/permission.

Monday August 17, 2009 – 27th of Av, 5769