Wacky, Bitingly Funny Spoof of a Novel
Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry
--
I have aged into a three-person book club that meets even-numbered months to discuss our selected book and the other six to discuss whatever else we are reading.
We laugh about what we want in our book selections. Mary insists on a good story, and I want excellent writing.
Joyce has her hands full negotiating our differences. For example, she recently suggested that we read Lessons in Chemistry, but she wanted to know how I would react to reading about chemistry.
After downloading a sample, I bought the book on Kindle and devoured it.
Elizabeth Zott and her precocious daughter, Madeline, see “magic in the ordinary” as they meet a cast of colorful characters from academia, media, education, and religion.
Elizabeth can be hard to take. She is a strong woman who doesn’t tolerate BS from anyone. The TV producer who hires her for a cooking show quickly assesses that she has “an authority that he knew the camera would love.”
The author repeatedly skewers academia and our male-dominated culture. Naturally, male chauvinists and academicians with thin skin would not appreciate this book. The rest of us can be amused and regretful that so little has changed over the decades.
Bonnie Garmus provides an intriguing story that makes up for average writing. After all, she is a copywriter; thus, she nicely ties up all the loose ends, with a few surprises along the way.
Joyce need not have worried about the chemistry in the title intimidating me because the author makes it agreeable. Whether Mary, who is a retired chemist, enjoys the story, we will have to wait and see.
