I made it a third of the way through before throwing in the towel. Remarkable, it being my third try at reading this book. It will be my last attempt to connect with Lily Tuck at least on this level. She cannot reach me, nor can I reach her, with this offering of hers made under the tutelage and championing of [a:Gordon Lish|232097|Gordon Lish|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1267719924p2/232097.jpg]. Lily has gone on to write other acclaimed books, and recently I read her latest one titled [b:Sisters|34496928|Sisters|Lily Tuck|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|55620015] which was really quite good and far more accessible than Matisse was. This rattling drivel was tiresome, and somewhat pretentious. Felt I was going nowhere fast and wasting my time. But other literary Tuck events await me. I have two additional novels sitting on my shelf. And my bet is they will be far better than this one, at one time, had promised to be. ( )