Knock Knock: a Life

Former Playboy fiction editor McNear's memoir recounts the life of an indecisive character, "March Rivers", so constantly conflicted it seems extraordinary that she ever finds her way. Our protagonist feels out of place and ambivalent everywhere: as a child in LaRue, Michigan with her hapless parents; in Chicago with her husband and their little girls; divorced, with or without a literary career. Her self-effacing wit, pointed observations, and purposefully stilted dialogue are instantly relatable and charged with dark humor. Readers will get the sad sense of time passing McNear's directionless life: a relatively long, horrendous marriage; the subsequent divorce; depressions and nervous breakdowns all impenetrable barriers to success. She drops names for both affect and effect; she signals that, in such a status-obsessed culture, she was not some outsider hoping to break in, these were the peers she had always hoped to impress. McNear's book is a deeply pleasurable read and a reminder that not everyone worth admiring has a plan. Though readers may not be sure if her March character ends up truly satisfied, there's certainly an easy peace with her life behind the sad realizations and biting wit; which may be all anyone can hope for. (Jan.)