Book-I Know This Much is True

Wally Lamb serves a fantastic book in I Know This Much is True. The story of identical twins, Dominick and Thomas Birdsey. At age 40, long-time schizophrenic, Thomas, cuts off his hand in a public library to protest the coming war in Iraq. His action triggers an array of events that takes us into the mental health system, Thomas's tortured mind, and much more intriguing, into Dominick's trip to save his brother, and himself, by examining the life the two have lived, their past with a difficult stepfather and harelipped mother.

Lamb writes as close to a perfect book as imaginable. The pacing, the interlocking stories of present and past, the narrative, all combine for a tour de force, a 900 page blockbuster that made me laugh and cry and empathise with these very real characters.

Key to the narrative is Dominick. His feeling of protectiveness and anger toward his twin, and his guilt for the anger, provide a compelling story that examines the fragile and yet resilient human psyche. While the feelings of Dominick are provided in the context of twins, it is true that every relationship has many of these same complexities, the same feelings of self-loathing for feeling anger toward one we love, the same feelings of wanting freedom and yet wanting to protect.

This was an amazing book. It is not small, but you are so drawn into it you want to keep turning the pages and keep reading, even though you know you need to turn off the light to get to work tomorrow morning.

Lamb has one other book out, She's Come Undone, which I have not read yet, and another coming out before the end of the year. A great story written brilliantly, I recommend this heartily.