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A review by meghan111
Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta
3.0
Chronicles the life of an unknown musician named Nik, from the point of view of his sister Denise. Nik and Denise grow up in California in the 70s, and as a teenager he plays in homegrown, unknown bands, until eventually he becomes a quasi-recluse and his art takes a strange twist. Although he continues to write songs, he turns to creating a meticulous, mythologized archive of his fictional success as a rock star.
Denise narrates the story, and her head is full of thoughts about the nature of memory and the relationship between siblings. She's interested in how you can forget things about your childhood, but stepping back onto a particular street will dredge up memories that you had thought gone forever. As Nik and Denise's mother succumbs to dementia, and Nik devotes his life to an archive of unreal events, Denise is the one left to wonder about the meaning of it.
I liked that this had an unusual take on relationships, asserting the primacy of the sibling relationship in Denise and Nik's lives.
Denise narrates the story, and her head is full of thoughts about the nature of memory and the relationship between siblings. She's interested in how you can forget things about your childhood, but stepping back onto a particular street will dredge up memories that you had thought gone forever. As Nik and Denise's mother succumbs to dementia, and Nik devotes his life to an archive of unreal events, Denise is the one left to wonder about the meaning of it.
I liked that this had an unusual take on relationships, asserting the primacy of the sibling relationship in Denise and Nik's lives.