All About Lulu

Will Miller has it bad; he's in love with his step-sister, Lulu. It all started when Lulu and her mother, Willow, moved in with the Millers, comprised of Big Bill and his three sons. They just connected in a way that Will had not experienced since his mother died. The two were in innocent bliss until Lulu went to Vermont her fifteenth summer and returned different and sullen. Will fretted over what happened to change her, but he could never pry it out of her. Even as Lulu became more and more self-destructive and distant, Will never let her out of his thoughts. She was his obsession and true love.

As the years go by and despite the distance between Will and Lulu, they keep in touch but Lulu is still ambivalent and sketchy when it comes show more to their relationship. However, one day during a visit from Will, she relents and allows him to make love with her. A few weeks later, Lulu attempts to take her own life, partly from guilt and depression and partly because she was pregnant. After this ordeal, Lulu moves in with Big Bill and Willow, but Will is forbidden from seeing her. A thwarted effort to see Lulu ends with Will and his father on a long drive where Bill finally tells his son the truth (*spoiler*) – Lulu is not his step-sister but his half sister. Even more, Bill tells Will that he has known for years of Will's undying obsession with Lulu and yet he kept this secret, the same secret that Lulu discovered when she was fifteen and had been tearing at her soul ever since.

All in all, this medium-paced, coming of age story of unrequited love was written well though not particularly poetically. While Evison created some nicely dynamic characters, he ties up their lose ends more as an afterthought, leaving the ending slightly forced. The main strength was in watching the innocent love between Lulu and Will blossom and then become ever more confusing and ambivalent. The incestuousness was not nearly as creepy as Kelly Braffat's Josie and Jack, but it was also not as heartrending. show less

As I greedily read All About Lulu, with the wit dripping from my chin and philosophical musings staining my favorite t-shirt, I finished this meal feeling full and satisfied.

All About Lulu is a book exploring the American psyche from the 1960's up to the 1990's through the mind of Will Miller, a runt in a family of bodybuilders. And though the main protagonist is Will, it really is all about Lulu, a force that not only changes Will's life, but kind of changed mine too.

Mr Evison weaved this tale with much humor and detail. We grow up with the Millers and can see the changes in the Miller's Pico Street household roll with the times. And I learned that the world is made of meat... and... no pain, no gain.

Excellent first novel from an show more author I'm sure we'll be reading more of... and so my sentence doesn't end in a preposition I should say, great read. show less

I don't often read contemporary American literary fiction. When I do read such works (The Time Traveler's Wife, Empire Falls) I read them in large chunks and ultimately they have a great emotional impact. All About Lulu, the debut novel by Jonathan Evison, is no exception. It is an unconventional love story, the basic premise of which I had thought of writing before. Evison crafts it into a far more layered and encompassing story. It is Holden Caufield's Lolita. If Nabokov's Lolita was a metaphor for totalitarianism or opposing cultures, Evison's Lulu is a metaphor for growing up (or perhaps remaining young) and the desperation of teenage youth in the American dystopia. A brilliant first novel.

In the early pages of "All About Lulu" we follow Will through the death of his mother and his father's subsequent remarriage to his grief counselor, Willow. His new stepmother also brings with him the attractive-in-her-own-way Louise (nickname: Lulu). Will, with his abnormally low voice for a 9-year-old, had stopped speaking after his mother's death, and it is only through Lulu that he rediscovers his voice.

Lulu and Will forge a seemingly unbreakable friendship and eventually becom...more In the early pages of "All About Lulu" we follow Will through the death of his mother and his father's subsequent remarriage to his grief counselor, Willow. His new stepmother also brings with him the attractive-in-her-own-way Louise (nickname: Lulu). show more Will, with his abnormally low voice for a 9-year-old, had stopped speaking after his mother's death, and it is only through Lulu that he rediscovers his voice.

Lulu and Will forge a seemingly unbreakable friendship and eventually become pseudo-girlfriend and boyfriend. They develop their own secret language and depend on each other almost completely for friendship and understanding. That is until Lulu leaves for cheerleading camp the summer before they begin high school. Will is distraught that he won't have Lulu with him for a full month, and this turns to complete devastation when Lulu returns completely changed. She no longer responds to their secret language. She locks herself away in her room most days. And, worst of all, she acts as though Will is invisible.

Throughout the rest of the book Will seeks to figure out what caused this change in Lulu. What happened while she was away? He spends years obsessed with her (and I have to admit it got a little creepy after awhile), but finally begins putting his life together. He gets his dream job as a radio announcer and even starts his own hot dog stand business with his Russian-immigrant landlord. Everything is running smooth until the last few chapters when he learns of events in Lulu's life and is pulled back into her orbit and finally learns what it was that pushed her away from him all those years ago.

I really enjoyed this book, if only because of its loveably oddball cast of characters. First, there's Will's father and twin brothers who are all body builders. Evison takes the term "meathead" literally with these three, making light of the fact that they eat meat. Will, a vegetarian, laments several times that he thinks his dad believes the world is made of meat.

Then we have his Russian-immigrant neighbor, his ghost cat (Frank), and his philosophy teacher, who I particularly love because he enabled Evison to use his Sweats to Pants Ratio, of which I've always been a huge fan:

"I'm developing something I call the sweats to pants ratio (SPR), by which success is measured relative to the days one spends in formal versus casual attire (formal being anything with pockets). By this measure, seven days a week in sweats is the pinnacle of success. I'm at about five-to-two right now. Pretty damn succesful."

This is a quick and fun read. I also like that it's a new author, published by a small press. show less

"All About Lulu" is more about Will Miller and his obsession with Lulu than about Lulu herself. After Will's mom dies, he is left with his father and brothers, who seem to be peas in a pod. As the odd-man-out in this body-building family, the young Will is looking for meaning and comfort. Will finds them in Lulu when his father starts dating her mother. Will and Lulu become close, best friends close. Lulu and Will share a private language and a sense of humor, etc. Maybe they are meant to be more than best friends? Although their parents marry and they are step-siblings, the connection between them is strong.

The summer before high school Lulu goes to Vermont to cheerleading camp and nothing is ever the same again. While she is away, the show more parents have hushed conversations behind closed door and Will wants to know what has happened. Nothing, say his parents. When Lulu returns, she shuns Will. She won't speak their private language. She won't spend time with him. She completely ignores him. Clearly something happened at cheerleading camp. But what? Will is confused and hurt.

From that point on, we follow Will as his obsession with Lulu grows. Despite all her efforts to push him away, he struggles to posess her. She is trying to move on with her life without him, but he makes every effort to get her back. Every now and then she shows signs of still loving him, but she declares that it is "as a sister" which frustrates Will even more. We follow Will as he leaves home, establishes himself as an independent adult, sans Lulu. But always, he is longing for Lulu. He always wants her back.

There are some twists and turns in this off-beat story. The characters are never as they appear upon first meeting them. When the secrets are finally aired, much of Will's life falls into focus. I briefly felt the author had kept things hidden to build suspence, but then I decided that he had it just right. Families are filled with people who make mistakes, who keep secrets, and tell partial truths. Well done, Mr. Evison. show less

I read a review that said this title was misnamed because the book is really all about Will. In reality the book is all about Will's obsession with Lulu. With a delightful and diverse cast of characters, this is a book to fall in love with - from the beginning where we find Will stranded by the death of his mother leaving him with his champion body builder father and twin brothers who follow Dad's every path. When Dad remarries and brings Willow, a grief counselor, and her daughter Lulu to their home, Will begins to find himself with Lulu's help. He falls in love with Lulu and devotes every waking moment to documenting her every delightful and not so delightful activities. When Lulu turns away from Will, he is devestated. But as we show more know, life goes on. I fell in love with Will, his brothers, Willow and Lulu. I was left as confused as Will until the very end. FInally, there is redemption and sadness, and finally understanding. An excellent read! show less

This is what Wally Lamb wanted to do with "She's Come Undone." Honestly, I think Jonathan Evison has done one better with "All About Lulu." Outrageous, funny, heartbreaking, this is a must read.