A review by mslaura
City by Alessandro Baricco

5.0

This is a brilliant and unusual book peopled with quirky and endearing characters both real and imagined. It is the story of a young genius named Gould, a boy never really allowed to be a boy, whose closest companions are an imaginary giant named Diesel and an imaginary mute named Poomerang, who creates in his mind the story of a boxer, which he builds upon whenever he is in the bathroom. Yes, this is a very unusual book. A glimmer of light comes into Gould's life when he meets Shatzy Shell, a somewhat lost and broken woman who becomes his unlikely governess. Shatzy has her own ongoing saga, a Western she has been dictating into a tape recorder for years. Added into this mix are a scattering of other unusual characters including Gould's absent father who may or may not have been a general, his mother who resides in a mental hospital and a professor who can't stop crying. This book is sad and funny and hopeful all at the same time and it is one that I will miss now that it is over.