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Oprah Book Club® Selection, June 1998: What if you were a 40-year-old housepainter, horrifically abused, emotionally unavailable, and your identical twin was a paranoid schizophrenic who believed in public self-mutilation? You'd either be a guest on the Jerry Springer Show or Dominick Birdsey, the antihero, narrator, and bad-juju magnet of I Know This Much Is True. Somewhere in the recesses of this hefty 912-page tome lurks an honest, moving account of one man's search, denial, and acceptance of self. This is no easy feat considering his grandfather seemed to take parenting tips from the SS and his grandmother was a possible teenage murderess, his stepfather a latent sadist, and his brother, Thomas, a politically motivated psychopath. Not one to break with tradition, Dominick continues the dysfunctional legacy with rape, a failed marriage, a nervous breakdown, SIDS, a car crash, and a racist conspiracy against a coworker--just to name a few.
A stretch, both literally and figuratively from his Oprah-christened bestseller, She's Come Undone, Lamb's book ventures outside the confines of the tightly bound beach read and marathons through a detailed, neatly cataloged account of every familial travesty and personal failure one can endure. At its heart lies Freud's "return of the repressed": the more we try to deny who we are, the more we become what we fear. Lamb takes Freud's psychological abstraction to the realm of everyday living, packing his novel with tender, believable dialogue and thoughtful observation. --Rebekah Warren --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
This much is true for sure: Lamb's second novel (after the bestselling, Oprah-selected She's Come Undone) is a hefty read. Some may be daunted by its length, its seemingly obsessive inclusion of background details and its many digressions. The topics it unflinchingly exploresAmental illness, dysfunctional families, domestic abuseAare rendered with unsparing candor. But thanks to well-sustained dramatic tension, funky gallows humor and some shocking surprises, this sinuous story of one family's dark secrets and recurring patterns of behavior largely succeeds in its ambitious reach. The narrative explores the theme of sibling responsibility, depicting the moral and emotional conundrum of an identical twin whose love for his afflicted brother is mixed with resentment, bitterness and guilt. Narrator Dominick Birdsey, once a high-school history teacher and now, at 40, a housepainter in upstate Connecticut, relates the process that led to his twin Thomas's schizophrenic paranoia and the resulting chaos in both their lives. The book opens with a horrific scene in which Thomas slices off his right hand, declaring it a sacrifice demanded by God. Flashbacks illuminate the boys' difficult childhoods: illegitimate, they never knew their father; diffident, gentle Thomas was verbally and physically abused by their bullying stepfather, who also terrorized their ineffectual mother. Scenes from the pivotal summer of 1969, when Dominick betrayed Thomas and others in crucial ways, are juxtaposed with his current life: his frustrating relationship with his scatterbrained live-in, Joy; his enduring love for his ex-wife, Dessa; his memories of their baby's death and of his mother's sad and terrified existence. All of this unfolds against his urgent need to release Thomas from a mental institution and the psychiatric sessions that finally force Dominick to acknowledge his own self-destructive impulses. Lamb takes major risks in spreading his narrative over more than 900 pages. Long stretches are filled with the raunchy, foul-mouthed humor of teenaged Dominick and his friends. Yet the details of working-class life, particularly the prevalence of self-righteous male machismo and domestic brutality, ring absolutely true. Though the inclusion of a diary written by the twins' Sicilian immigrant grandfather may seem an unnecessary digression at first, its revelations add depth and texture to the narrative. Lastly, what seems a minor subplot turns out to hold the key to many secrets. In tracing Dominick's helplessness against the abuse of power on many levels, Lamb creates a nuanced picture of a flawed but decent man. And the questions that suspensefully permeate the novelAthe identity of the twins' father; the mystery of the inscription on their grandfather's tomb; the likelihood of Dominick's reconciliation with his ex-wifeAcontribute to a fully developed and triumphantly resolved exploration of one man's suffering and redemption. BOMC main selection; author tour; simultaneous audio.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother Thomas entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut Public Library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother Thomas entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut Public Library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth While Read,
By
This review is from: I Know This Much Is True: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
Yes, I must admit, I almost dropped this book. I found the first 200 pages of it very depressing. I had difficulty picking it up every day and reading the thoughts, feelings, and doings of a character that I didn't like, didn't understand, and most importantly could not relate to. After the 200 pages things took a turn...and I could not put the book down, the last and final chapter seemed to be what I was waiting and hungry for and I was so glad I made it. Looking back at it, I must say that, the book was incredible. A character who I never would be friend's with, did not understand, and could not relate to, became someone I could look up to, love, and admire.
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a story,
By Sancho Mahle (Charlotte, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: I Know This Much Is True: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
I Know This Much Is True is an amazing book that can't really be described in words. At best, I can only say that the story is about twins- one of the twins is afflicted by schizophrenia and the other who is a healthy boy. But the healthy brother seemingly wants to be like his sick brother and does everything possible to make himself mental like his twin brother, a process that is pursued with deliberate actions of madness that affects all around him. Why? We may ask. Simply, the healthy brother is obsessed with guilt and responsibility for the state of his sick brother This book is just overwhelming. This hair-spinning story will make you laugh, cry, smile gasp, and sigh until the very end. It is so fulfilling. You will be doing yourself an advantage by reading this book. It says a lot that you never knew about.Triple Agent Double Cross, Disciples of Fortune, Black and Blue, While I Was Gone are other novels with ingenious characters and an inspiring hero.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I can only hope Wally Lamb has more fiction coming our way!,
By A Customer
This review is from: I Know This Much Is True (Paperback)
Wally Lamb already was awesome, but he amazingly just gets better with time & practice. Everything that was good about She's Come Undone is 100 times better in I Know This Much Is True. I bought this book a few years ago and didn't read it because I couldn't commit to the nearly 900 pages at the time. I had a craving for a long read recently and devoured it like it was nothing in a matter of days. I can say it was easily one of my favorite books ever and I'll carry the message of love and forgiveness with me forever.
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