The Accidental by Ali Smith

I have a weakness for unusual language, and this book certainly satisfies this soft spot I have for seemingly mixed up syntax and points of view verging on strange. Like Hotel World, The Accidental is told through multiple voices. Each member of the family the story centers around gets a chance to narrate. This provides a veritable collage. It is a fascinating, quilt-like story, pieced together in a very careful and beautiful way. While many of the characters are quite annoying, they couldn't be this way with a less well-crafted story. Amber, who at this point in the story appears to be "The Accidental," is the worst of all. She is crazy in that charming way so as to avoid being pinned down as such by the other characters in the story who aren't particularly well-adjusted themselves. The mother has writer's block. The father, an English professor, has compulsive affairs with students. The 17-year-old boy is seriously disturbed. And the 12-year-old girl, who also happens to be a focus-point of the story, is just blatantly innocent, adolescent and a perfect character for someone (Amber, with her non-conformist, oddly adolescent ideas, perhaps) to take painful advantage of.

At about half-way through the story, I am hooked. I remember when this book was released a bit over a year ago, it was certainly talked about enough for me to hear about Smith and acquire a few of her other books. But until now, I never happened upon this particular book myself. I definitely look forward to the rest.