Book Review: Us Fools

Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell

A tragicomic tale about sisterhood in a very real, recent slice of American history

Bernie and Joanne are self-proclaimed “junk kids.” The sisters’ story starts in the midst of the farm crisis that shaped much of their childhood in rural Illinois in the 1980s.

As their parents struggle to find their way through increasing costs, unexpected debts, and their sexually intense marriage, Bernie and Joanne are left to fend for themselves. Joanne looks to literature and the exploration of her own mind while Bernie looks to Joanne, admirably and with total conviction. Us Fools captures the essence of sisterhood as Bernie and Joanne venture through their coming of age to about 2009. With a balanced, wholly unique blend of tragic and comic prose, Nora Lange’s Us Fools feels unlike anything I’ve read before.

Bernie is our narrator and main character, but it’s Jo who steals the show. She is a magnetic force; characters are often drawn to her so strongly you’d think she possessed some kind of magic power. I was all about her too, cheering on nearly every bizarre thing she did. She pushes all of the limits, is always spewing insightful and sometimes nonsensical things, and is completely herself at all times. As a young sister myself, it wasn’t hard to see why Bernie admired her so. Lange does lots of things right in this story, but Jo’s characterization could be her shining achievement.

Joanne is always keeping readers on their toes. Very early in the book, she calls out to her sister so she can watch her jump off the roof of their home. Laying there, broken but completely calm, the two sisters share a moment that encapsulates this and so many sisterly relationships. Bernie at 8 years old, staring down at her broken sister, confused but kind of relishing in her temporary weakness, and her sister looking back up at her and telling her, “you’re drooling…you should do something about that.”

Lange’s style is flawless in spinning tragedy into humor. Maybe it’s the bluntness of it all that makes you chuckle, like our main character’s dialogue not dwelling on the unfortunate. The sisters’ circumstances are so bleak at times. There are chapters where they have very little to eat or are experiencing cruelty from their peers or parents, and yet the girls are unwavering. Once you learn that not much is going to get to them, it becomes easier to laugh along with them and to brush off what they’ve learned to brush off.

With little to do around them, they turn to books as their main form of entertainment and education, and it leads to them becoming wildly intelligent. So much of their dialogue is filled with great ideas and deep introspection. With the help of their parents Sylvia and Henry and their isolated environment, they are shaped into deep-thinking individuals who question everything and trust their minds even when it leads them astray. 

Despite the mental instability that’s showcased so often in this book, it also displays sisterhood and womanhood at its realest. “She was born speaking a language few wanted to understand. I wanted to understand.” What kept me reading so intently was just wanting to understand all of the women more. Even the mother, Sylvia, is a complex force that will draw readers in. I could have read a novel just about her and her intriguing lineage of women who were considered mentally unwell. All of their minds work in their own way.

Lange weaves in a number of compelling historical facts into Us Fools as well. We’re given updates on the current state of the world depending on the year, which runs from the 1980s to around 2009. These tidbits sometimes go with the current happenings in Bernie’s life or just help shape our idea of the environment they’re living in. Sometimes they have little to do with anything, but I was always happy to read them and spend time in the very real, recent past. 

Us Fools is nothing like I expected it to be. And I’m damn glad about that. 

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