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A review by savvylit
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This ambitious novel takes place in an alternate version of the United States in which the South seceded from the rest of the country in the 1940s. For fifty years, the South remained impenetrable to Westerners and Northerners. Then, in the 1990s, reunification began. This unique setting and political context frames the entire "biography."
Biography of X is a sort of literary mystery that's entirely narrated by her widow, C.M. Lucca. C.M. intertwines her discoveries about X's secretive past with memories of her own toxic relationship to her. Readers come to discover alongside C.M. that X was an incredibly unlikeable and manipulative narcissist. At first, her narcissism is harder to see as X hides behind her art. Performance, film, novels - at some point, X did it all. From nearly the beginning of her life, X adopted so many different personas that she became a notorious and inveterate con artist.
X's fictional life as depicted in this story is both glamorous and fascinating. C.M. recounts X's friendships with real-life superstars such as David Bowie, Tom Waits, and Susan Sontag. However, it's not X's glamorous life that makes this novel so compelling to read. Rather, it's the immersive effect of the narration by C.M. C.M. is haunted by X and her controlling ways. Even years after X's passing, C.M.'s life revolves exclusively around X. As she embarks on her investigation, C.M. continues her pattern of deferring her own personality and interests to those of X. Ultimately, this novel offers a fascinating look into the long-term effects of an intimate relationship with a narcissist.
Thank you @netgalley and @fsgbooks for the advanced reader copy of Biography of X in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Biography of X is a sort of literary mystery that's entirely narrated by her widow, C.M. Lucca. C.M. intertwines her discoveries about X's secretive past with memories of her own toxic relationship to her. Readers come to discover alongside C.M. that X was an incredibly unlikeable and manipulative narcissist. At first, her narcissism is harder to see as X hides behind her art. Performance, film, novels - at some point, X did it all. From nearly the beginning of her life, X adopted so many different personas that she became a notorious and inveterate con artist.
X's fictional life as depicted in this story is both glamorous and fascinating. C.M. recounts X's friendships with real-life superstars such as David Bowie, Tom Waits, and Susan Sontag. However, it's not X's glamorous life that makes this novel so compelling to read. Rather, it's the immersive effect of the narration by C.M. C.M. is haunted by X and her controlling ways. Even years after X's passing, C.M.'s life revolves exclusively around X. As she embarks on her investigation, C.M. continues her pattern of deferring her own personality and interests to those of X. Ultimately, this novel offers a fascinating look into the long-term effects of an intimate relationship with a narcissist.
Thank you @netgalley and @fsgbooks for the advanced reader copy of Biography of X in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, War, Abandonment, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Drug use and Domestic abuse