Family parts

Cooper, T. Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes

"Some parts are true, others are made up. Still others are made up, but from entirely true events" (429)

It took me a long time to fall in love with this book. The first 300 pages are a fascinating historical fiction family saga, reminiscent of Ragtime. The blurbs compared it to Middlesex;, though that wasn't necessarily the first thing I thought of while reading it. What didn't immediately come to mind was T. Cooper's first novel, Some of the Parts. Some of the Parts was a beautiful, angry, frustrated novel that I loved and admired even when it was painful. Lipschitz Six has all of that amazing craft and persona in it, but it has something else as well. It's extremely literary and feels more mature than the conflicted angst of Some of the Parts. It builds an entire story of family history and intricately flawed characters before introducing the queer craziness of the T. Cooper literary persona.