{"id":541,"date":"2024-10-01T13:59:22","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T13:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=541"},"modified":"2024-10-01T13:59:22","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T13:59:22","slug":"book-review-us-fools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=541","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Us Fools"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Us Fools<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Nora Lange<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Literary Fiction \/ Coming of Age<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9781953387516<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 340 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Two Dollar Radio<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/span>Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

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Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong>A<\/strong> tragicomic tale about sisterhood in a very real, recent slice of American history<\/h2>\n

Bernie and Joanne are self-proclaimed \u201cjunk kids.\u201d The sisters\u2019 story starts in the midst of the farm crisis that shaped much of their childhood in rural Illinois in the 1980s. <\/p>\n

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 <\/em>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\u2019s Us Fools<\/em> feels unlike anything I\u2019ve read before.<\/p>\n

Bernie is our narrator and main character, but it\u2019s Jo who steals the show. She is a magnetic force; characters are often drawn to her so strongly you\u2019d 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.\u00a0As a young sister myself, it wasn\u2019t hard to see why Bernie admired her so. Lange does lots of things right in this story, but Jo\u2019s characterization could be her shining achievement. <\/p>\n

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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, \u201cyou\u2019re drooling\u2026you should do something about that.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lange\u2019s style is flawless in spinning tragedy into humor. Maybe it\u2019s the bluntness of it all that makes you chuckle, like our main character\u2019s dialogue not dwelling on the unfortunate. The sisters\u2019 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\u2019ve learned to brush off. <\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the mental instability that\u2019s showcased so often in this book, it also displays sisterhood and womanhood at its realest. \u201cShe was born speaking a language few wanted to understand. I wanted to understand.\u201d<\/em> <\/strong>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. <\/p>\n

Lange weaves in a number of compelling historical facts into Us Fools<\/em> as well. We\u2019re 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\u2019s life or just help shape our idea of the environment they\u2019re 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Us Fools<\/em> is nothing like I expected it to be. And I\u2019m damn glad about that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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<\/span>Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

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<\/span>Buy from Bookshop<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

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Thank you for reading Jaylynn Korrell\u2019s book review of Us Fools <\/em>by Nora Lange! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post Book Review: Us Fools<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Us Fools by Nora Lange Genre: Literary Fiction \/ Coming of Age ISBN: 9781953387516 Print Length: 340 pages Publisher: Two Dollar Radio Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell A tragicomic tale about sisterhood in a very real, recent slice of American history Bernie and Joanne are self-proclaimed \u201cjunk kids.\u201d The sisters\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}