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The Interruption of Everything by Terry McMillan
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In her first novel in years, Terry McMillan brings us Maureen, 44 and perimenopausal, living in the suburbs of San Francisco. She works in a craft store and sometimes craves doing anything with a glue gun. Her children are grown: the twin boys just started college, and her daughter is pregnant and preparing to move to London with her partner. Leon, her husband, who is a few years older than Maureen, is going through a mid-life crisis. Maureen has regularly scheduled pity parties with her best friends Bunny and Paulette. Maureen’s mother, in Fresno, is sick, and her adopted drug-addicted sister and her two children are the caregivers — carelessly giving, to say the least. Leon’s mother lives with Maureen and Leon and expects to be treated in the fashion to which she has become accustomed. McMillan’s dialogue is funny, and the cultural elements that make up and complicate life are cleverly put forward without judgment. Maureen, as some reviews claim, is whiny, but who wouldn’t be? Pushed and pulled in every direction but her own, she has learned not to expect too much of what she wants. But with a little help from her friends, she takes the initiative to tackle those things that have been on her to-do list for years. She applies to art school (and gets in), and has her hair braided (one of the funniest chapters in the book), propelling herself into a more satisfying life. If Maureen weren’t so likable, The Interruption of Everything would be a cliché. As it is, we are charmed by her tenacity and caring, as she winds through the streets of Oakland, chugs up Telegraph Hill, and zips down the freeway to Fresno, getting interrupted every step of the way. Review by Sarah Bagby, July 27, 2005
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