The Bee Sting

A week after finishing this, I still couldn’t decide what I felt about it. This book is a masterpiece. It is extremely well-written and clever and really challenges the reader and makes them think. That being said, I didn’t exactly enjoy reading it! The book is about a family in chaos. It’s told from each family member’s perspective. Dickie, his wife Imelda, and their children Cass and PJ. Dickie’s once-lucrative car dealership is going under, and Dickie seems to be doing nothing to fix it. He spends his days in the woods, building a survivalist-style bunker with his handyman. Meanwhile, Imelda is selling off all her jewelry and furniture and considering having an affair. Imelda’s chapters are very hard to read. To convey her lack of education (and chaotic mindset), there’s no punctuation. Their daughter Cass, once an academic superstar, has let her grades slip and is drinking herself into oblivion. Will she even manage to get into college? Meanwhile, her brother PJ plays video games and talks to strangers in chat rooms. He daydreams about running away. When did it all go so wrong? The book takes us all the way back to Dickie and Imelda’s childhoods, through Imelda’s wedding day when a bee stung her in the face. The ending is really something. I can’t stop thinking about it.