Reviews for Kentuckiana

The average rating for Kentuckiana based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-03-24 00:00:00 Robert Kennedy The postmodern novel is so passe, as is the dysfunctional family. Not here, though, under Johnny Payne's pen. I've never read a book like this. It's got magical realism, a' la Murakami (Ha! Seth! I fit a Murakami reference in!), but rather than being about a detached, spaghetti-loving sexual deviant, it's about a family. And the family has problems. I don't know why, but I kept thinking about spoons as I'd learn more about each family member. You know how you sometimes use a spoon to dig out ice cream, and it gets all bent? And you try to bend it back, but it's never the same. It never quite nests in with the others the same way again. Well, this family is like a stack of spoons that have all been used to scoop out ice cream. Each time they are hurt, abused, self-abusive, neglected, etc., they get bent until they don't fit with their family anymore. Each family member feels it. They are trying to nest back in with each other, but they're too damaged. Sorry for that stupid metaphor!!! Each child intrigued me. I felt particularly amazed after reading a chapter where the post-suicidal Talia is in a psychiatric facility. I'd try to explain it, but I wouldn't do it justice. The character I loved (I think love is the right word actually) is the father, Jean. An alcoholic, he did them wrong, but he was trying and trying and trying and TRYING to make up for it. The way he dealt with Talia's independence was amazing. The way he dealt with Judy's abuser was awesome. When he "spoke" to his dead father in a surreal and powerful scene, I was smiling the whole time because I was in awe of how Payne was making me feel so invested. Good God, y'all! And I actually got angry at Constance, his wife, when she wouldn't recognize how he'd changed. Too caught up in herself. I'm a sucker for fathers, anyway. I just counted how many pages I'd dog-eared to go back and look at later (yes, I'm a librarian who dog-ears!) There are 18. Not bad for a 250 page book.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-09-06 00:00:00 Troy Fitzgerald Payne has picked a clever vehicle (the exploration of a subdivision) to delve into the psyches of the family and explore what drives each and how one affects the other. You have to really pay attention as his style changed several times throughout. But well worth paying attention!