Good Neighbours

by Jonathan Franzen
A neighbourhood can be a very charged place, both the stage and the audience for any number of inter- and intra-familial dramas and disasters.

In this story, Franzen chronicles the rise and the fall of Patty Berglund, a stay-at-home mom who almost single-handedly re-energized the Ramsey Hill area of St. Paul. She was the consummate proto-Martha Stewart housewife, who remembered everyones' birthdays and had never had anything mean or even a little bit negative to say about anyone on the street.

Franzen spends the first part of the story detailing how she was perceived by her community, and then shows how things changed for her as her young son entered into his teenage years, and her carefully constructed facade begins to collapse.

There's nothing groundbreaking in this story - it's the type of thing that happens all the time - but Franzen does an excellent job of writing this. In many ways, the narrative takes on a documentary feel, as different neighbours contribute their understanding of events, and provide their own (sometimes self-serving) spin on things.

This is a great edition of the New Yorker....