Sharp Objects

I have to recommend this book. The plot (so far, as I haven't finished it yet) is gripping, the pace is good, the characters well-defined. But, the real reason that I have to recommend this book is the way it made me think about the roles we play, or that play us.

Before I get into that, can I just talk about how sometimes book cover design is pure genius. I was completely drawn in by this cover. I don't know that I would have looked at it twice if not for this.

I need to work on more creative book cover design. I don't get to do a lot of that where I work, there isn't too much room for creativity with the titles we publish, but I try. I just know I won't get very far if I can't try and fail and try and flex my creative muscles, be challenged, you know?

OK, back to the book. A woman returns to her small hometown to report on the murders of two young girls. I have never grown up in a small town, so I don't entirely know what the dynamic is like. As I have said, I am only halfway through, so I don't know exactly what's going on yet, but I suspect that there is something significant about the women in the town, and how they interact with each other. They are all pretty much archetypes we have seen before. The ones who were the popular girls, who grow up to just have babies and play good little wifeys (I think the protagonist derides these women in feminist principle, but appreciates the sorrow of a life that hasn't turned out the way one wants it). Others are the outlaws, the tomboys, the ones that speak their minds. It seems to me, that all the women in the book, either play within the confines of the patriarchy, or don't. And so far, the ones that don't get killed.

Insomuch as all women are forced to move about within the framework of the patriarchy to a degree, I just found myself wondering what it would be like to be forced into either the virgin or whore stereotype. I am pretty fortunate that I have been able to develop a bit more balanced personality, with no repercussions. I owned a cordless drill before my husband, and I know the ins and outs of hanging shelves, how to hook up a home theater system. At the same time, I like to look pretty, and to be appreciated as a sexual being (subtly of course, no ass grabs please) by members of the opposite sex. Just not strictly one or the other. Maybe its because I grew up as a "fat kid", but I never used my sexuality as currency. Which isn't to say that I think its an entirely bad thing. But, as with money, you have to know when to spend, and when to save, and for whom you are spending.
So, did this relative freedom from the confines of the patriarchy come from living in a big city?

I don't know where I am going with this.

All I know is at this moment I feel like I owe my parents a big debt of gratitude. My mom for being a tough lady that showed me it was OK to have an opinion, to be smart, to depend on myself, and to my dad, for telling my to put up my own shelves.

Oh, and read this book. Its good, and it might make you think.