I read this book in conjunction with Jim Shepard's "Project X" two years ago. Both feature school shootings. And though I will say "Project X" is probably the "better" book (in that it's much better written, it's more "literary", whatever you take that to mean) Shriver's "We Need to Talk About Kevin" has stayed with me in a way that "Project X" simply didn't. And it seems as though I'm not the only one the story has stuck to in this way -- I gave the book to my sister, who is VERY critical -- and she also found it unforgettable. And it's strange. The writing, especially toward the beginning of the book, is actually annoyingly verbose, and like many readers on this site, I also guessed the "surprise" ending many pages before it arrived. But there was nevertheless an intriguing, hauting, 'can't look away'-ness to the violent climax of the story that both disturbed and fascinated me. I was crying by the the final scenes, though as I've said, I guessed the ending. And more than that, and definitely to Shriver's credit, her characters were, for lack of a better word, real. I believed the mother. I believed in her travel-guides. Basically, I believed everything about the world she created, even Kevin's oddly unsettling habit of wearing "tiny clothes". Don't think this book merely piggy-backs on the spate of school shootings -- it offers something completely other: the inevitabley devestating consquences of a mother hating her child. Comprable to Doris Lessing's 'The Fifth show more Child" in its psychological intesity, if not its prose-quality, this book is well worth your time. show less

I listened to this book as I was driving from Iowa to North Carolina. I don't really know if I would've liked it as much if I'd read it, but listening to it was wonderful. It's become one of those rare, golden experiences I return to often in memory. Everything was perfect -- the sunlight, the drive, the story -- it all came together. Best book-on-tape experience I've ever had. And while Bob Dollar is something of a dithering idiot, the characterization of the Texas pan handle and the hog farming industry was riveting. Also, all that stuff about Bakelite...sweet. I don't know. I can't really say why I liked this book, other than that sometimes, Proulx's writing borders on incandescent. Her descriptions can be breathtaking. Obviously, her short stories are better from a language standpoint, but nothing she's written has ever struck me like 'That Old Ace in the Hole.'