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A Novel
by Matt Greene
Book Reviewed by:A brilliant and moving coming-of-age story in the tradition of Wonder by R. J. Palacio and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - this debut novel is written with tremendous humor and charm.
This is Alex's story. But he doesn't know exactly what it's about yet, so you probably shouldn't either.
Instead, here are some things that it's sort of about (but not really):
It's sort of (but not really) about brain surgery.
It's sort of (but not really) about a hamster named Jaws 2 (after the original Jaws (who died), not the movie Jaws 2).
It's sort of (but actually quite a lot) about Alex's parents.
It's sort of (but not really) about feeling ostrichized (which is a better word for excluded (because ostriches can't fly so they often feel left out)).
It's sort of (but not really (but actually, the more you think about it, kind of a lot)) about empathy (which is like sympathy only better), and also love and trust and fate and time and quantum mechanics and friendship and exams and growing up.
And it's also sort of about courage. Because sometimes it actually takes quite a lot of it to bury your head in the sand.
I didn't always want to know. Matt Greene is a smart writer, and Alex is drawn with deft, clever strokes, but I didn't always care to follow their meandering thoughts. They weren't always all that interesting. Then again Alex has these seizures and he has just had brain surgery for goodness sake. So maybe his mind can't help but wander. And that is extremely interesting to me – the way the structure of the story parallels the protagonist's personality. Ultimately it sustained me as I watched Alex try to both move through typical pre-adolescent experiences and solve the mystery of his parents' – and hamster's – odd new behavior...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Tamara Ellis Smith).
In Matt Greene's Ostrich, protagonist Alex Graham is obsessed with mnemonic devices. How did mnemonics get their start?
Simonides of Ceos was a Greek poet in the sixth century B.C. As the story goes, he was asked to recite an ode at a nobleman's banquet. Simonides began his speech, as was customary, by thanking the gods – in this case Pollux and Castor, twins who were later transformed into the constellation Gemini. But the nobleman did not appreciate sharing the limelight with the gods. Simonides would get half of his fee, the nobleman said, and if he wanted the rest he could ask the gods themselves to pay him. Shortly afterwards, Simonides was called out of the room. Two men were supposedly at the door to see him. He went to the ...
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If you liked Ostrich, try these:
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman
by Julietta Henderson
Published 2022
Julietta Henderson's delightfully charming, tender and uplifting debut takes us on a road trip with a mother and son who will live in the reader's heart for a long time to come, and teaches us that--no matter the odds--we must always reach for the stars.
by Jesse Ball
Published 2017
A singular, blistering novel about a teenage girl who has lost everything - and will burn anything.
Carol Rifka Brunt, author of Tell the Wolves I’m Home
One of the bravest novels I’ve read in a very long time. Matt Greene lets the reader become detective, and clue by clue we uncover not only the truth of Alex’s world, but the deepest truths of what it means to love and lose.
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