- Paperback: 336 pages
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0753822202
- ISBN-13: 978-0753822203
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11.2 x 2.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Flynn's debut novel focuses on an emotionally fragile young woman whose sanity is being severely tested by family dysfunction, smalltown incivility and murder. It is a mesmerizing psychological thriller that is also quite disturbing and, thanks to reader Lee's chillingly effective rendition, at times almost unbearably so. Camille Preaker, a novice reporter with a history of self-mutilation, is sent to her hometown in Missouri to cover the murder of one teenage girl and the disappearance of another. There, she must face a variety of monsters from the past and the present, including her aloof and patronizing mother, her obnoxiously precocious 13-year-old stepsister who dabbles in drugs, sex and humiliation, and an unknown serial killer whose mutilated victims bring back haunting memories. Lee's interpretation of mom enhances the character's detachment and airy state of denial to an infuriating degree. And her abrupt change of pace when Camille suddenly begins chanting the words carved on her body is hair-raising. But the voice Lee gives to the stepsister—tinged with a sarcastic, cynical and downright evil girly singsong—makes one's blood run cold.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
This impressive debut novel is fueled by stylish writing and compelling portraits of desperate housewives, southern style. Troubled newspaper reporter Camille Preaker is sent back to her Missouri hometown in a bid to get the inside scoop on the murders of two preteen girls--both were strangled and had their teeth removed. Almost as nasty as the brutal crimes are Camille's twisted family dynamics. She intends to stay with her zombielike mother, whom she has hardly spoken to in 8 years; her cipher of a stepfather; and her twisted, overly precocious 13-year-old half sister. Wading back into the insular social dynamics of the town proves to be a stressful experience for Camille, a reformed cutter whose body is riddled with the scars of words such as wicked and cupcake. In a particularly seductive narrative style, Flynn adopts the cynical, knowing patter of a weary reporter, but it is her portraits of the town's backstabbing, social-climbing, bored, and bitchy females that provoke her sharpest and most entertaining writing. A stylish turn on dark crimes and even darker psyches. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A STUNNING DEBUT WITH TOPNOTCH NARRATION,
By
This review is from: Sharp Objects: A Novel (Audio CD)
Exciting, promising, can't-put-it-down debut novels are hard to find - with Gillian Flynn's "Sharp Objects," it seems we've found one more to add to that all too brief list. It's a stunning story, tightly crafted, and appropriately chilling.Now a reporter for a class C Chicago newspaper, Camille Preaker is a survivor. Her recent past includes a stay in a psychiatric hospital where she was treated for various disorders, including self-mutilation. At the age of 13 she carved "queasy" around her stomach and at 29 "vanish" on her neck. Troubled? In spades. However, it looks like she may get a break as she's assigned to cover what is probably a serial killer story. On the downside is the fact that the scene of the crime is her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri, a place she left some eight years ago. She doesn't want to return but the thought of a career making yarn is too tempting and off she goes, back to an old house that holds unhappy memories and a mother who gives new meaning to neurotic. Two young girls have been murdered, and the local police seem to think a transient is responsible. A handsome profiler from Kansas City doesn't think the answer is as easy as that. Throughout the investigation Camille is forced to relive childhood trauma and confront ghosts that have haunted her through the years. Those who enjoy psychological thrillers will have found a winner in "Sharp Objects," especially as read by actress Ann Marie Lee. Well remembered for her stage and television performances, she inhabits Camille's persona with nuance and modulation. As the climax approaches we find ourselves listening even more intently as Lee's voice builds, leading the way. - Gail Cooke
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating...Thrilling...Stunning...Amazing,
By Kyle Mills (Ajax, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sharp Objects: A Novel (Paperback)
From my Grade 10 response essay - September 2008-------- The main character of Sharp Objects is Camille Preaker, a thirty-some year-old journalist for a "second-rate" Chicago newspaper. She has just been released from a psychiatric hospital. Gillian Flynn, the author, does a good job at making all of the characters seem realistic and the careful wording she chooses causes the reader to feel sympathetic to the problems that the main character is facing. Camille is sent to her home-town, Wind-Gap, to write a report on two missing girls. Camille has to overcome tragic memories and face her family, who she hasn't seen in eight years. The novel also explores the struggle that Camille has in overcoming her compulsiveness to cut herself and carve words into her body. Flynn keeps the readers interested in Camille's conflicts by wrapping them into a storyline about the missing children. The story takes place in a small town of just over two thousand people. The small-town atmosphere is important because everybody knows each other and knows one another's personal struggles. Camille acquires most of her information from other people's gossip about fellow "Wind-gapians". The entire town is described in great detail, right down to the names of the restaurants, how many bars there are and the economical housing divisions within the town. My grandparents live in a small town of under two-hundred people so I think I can relate to how Camille, and all others who were raised in Wind-Gap for that matter, may feel claustrophobic and want to get out. I can also relate to how John Nash, the brother of one of the missing children, might have felt after moving from a big city. Overall I liked the small-town setting and I believe that it is necessary to the story's plot. I think that the main theme of the novel is about how family conflicts can eventually cause so much damage that they can ruin people's lives. This is demonstrated in the psychological problems that Camille is facing after her father left, her sister died and her mother re-married. There are also other themes that come through like the necessity to overcome grief. This is demonstrated by the grief that Camille's mother still holds onto from her daughter's death. After reading this novel, I know I will try to always resolve conflict within my family quickly so it cannot escalate into a major, more severe problem.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book.,
By
This review is from: Sharp Objects: A Novel (Paperback)
For those who expect a typical "mystery-thriller" book, really focused on the investigation part, this is not the book for you. However, if you're open to something deeper, more disturbing and smarter, go on.I think this is more about psychology than mystery. Sure, the storyline about the two murdered pre-teens is very important, but there's a lot more. It's about the protagonist journey, how is she going to deal with her problems, her family, her past. A very smart, extremely well-written, excellent book.
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