Dancing on the Edge

The book was the winner of the 1997 National Book Award.

I have no idea why it won. The book is, to me, boring and confused. It seems to have two parts. The first part seems to indicate that something quite unusual has taken place that involves the paranormal. Numerous references to paranormal activities like the ouija board and auras abound. Miracle, the young girl, is the center of the story and it seems that her father melted; that is, he disappeared mysteriously.

For the first half of the book I kept expecting some kind of revelation of exactly what had happened and what kind of things Miracle would have to learn to bring her father back.

Then we get to the second part of the book which is reminiscent of Girl, Interrupted, as it seems that Miracle and the people around her have various mental problems and that there is no actual paranormal events that are really taking place at all.

I felt, basically, cheated. Things were built up in a story that involved either the paranormal or the world of fantasy. Instead, everything was really just centered around mental problems in a young girl whose father had left.

If the story had been entirely paranormal or fantasy, then it would have worked. If it had been entirely dealing with mental illness and had left out 90% of the paranormal references, then it would have worked. Instead, what we have is a sort of schizophrenic book that simply doesn't work.

At least in my opinion, anyhow.


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