WHITE FUR

by Jardine Libaire

I get book recommendations from many sources and this one came from a friend. She said it was the best book she’d read in a year, so I was eager to read it. The critics’ quotes on the book cover called it, “A fairy tale of love and class and money and death and New York City in the 1980s” (NPR) and “Glorious, dark, dirty, and sexy.” (Amanda Eyre Ward) So why did I dislike the book so strongly? White Fur tells the story of a Yale student and his love affair with a young woman with scant education who grew up in subsidized housing in a dysfunctional family and all the odds against her. Their sexual attraction borders on obsessive and leads them to spiral downward in a steady progression. I suppose that is what finally turned me off – the relentless negativity of the story. I realize that relationships like this actually exist, I just don’t want to experience every torturous detail. For that reason, White Furwas not my cup of tea. (Liz)