July
18
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
First, I need to thank my friend Kate who handed me this read on holidays. That small gesture would have lightened her luggage considerably (this is not a slender book) broke my book drought and instantly put my data worries to an end. Who needs to ride reels by the pool when you’ve got Demon Copperhead to worry about?
And yes he will make you worry.
Demon Copperhead was born in a trailer to a teenage single mother in Virginia. She is an addict and they are dirt poor. Despite her best efforts, his childhood is spent lurching from one bad foster home situation to another involving abuse of every kind, extreme poverty and neglect. One by one, he is let down by social services, the health care system and the various public schools he sometimes attends. In fact, there is a not a single crack that Demon Copperhead doesn’t fall through at some point in this story.
Despite it all, he never loses hope or humour and learns from the wide array of people around him including the fantastically named Fast Forward, Swap Out and Creaky.
Demon Copperfield is not just a great read, it is a modern commentary on social justice, institutional poverty and the life destroying effects of opiates aggressively targeted at the poor in this part of America in the late 90’s.
With fine and funny prose, Barbara Kingsolver conveys the deep lows and fleeting highs of a teenage boy in distress that will turn you off prescription pain medication for life and make you want to adopt.
Inspired by Charles Dicken’s David Copperfield, this book is a remake very much worth investing in.
And that’s my 2 cents worth.
Readhead 