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The most refreshing part of Hustvedt’s novel is Eggy. She has not yet been tainted by the trials and tribulations of the real life. She is able to stay in her make-believe world by using a ball of string to show how she controlls her world and keeps it closely connected to her by stringing everything together and then to herself, much like her own personal cocoon. She was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise depressing book. No one was happy, everyone had serious mental health issues.

We spent a lot of time talking about the voice of the first 6 or so pages. I never attached a gender to the beginning several pages. Upon reflection, I’m not sure it really makes any difference as to whether these pages are delivered with a woman’s or a man’s voice. I do believe however that Hustvedt put a lot of herself into this book and I suspect each of the characters has a piece of who she is in them; a sort of glimpse into the psyche of the author through her characters. Whitman wrote like this too only he didn’t disguise who he was through fictional characters.

Both books are a window into the mind of the authors.