Publishers Weekly
09/06/2021
A woman nearing 60 looks back on her life in this bounteous if unfocused novel by Gangi (The Next). Bea Seger was the youngest of three children of Miriam Marx, a photographer made infamous for the nude pictures she took of her children and who died many years earlier by suicide. Bea has recently discovered a stash of Miriam’s work in a storage unit, and has to decide whether to show it at the Museum of Modern Art or allow a Hollywood producer to use it for a biopic. The work brings up unresolved speculation for Bea that she might have been abused by one of her twin brothers, who died at 16, and about what happened to her other brother, with whom she lost contact after he left for college. Meanwhile, she’s dealing with a possible cancer diagnosis, an ongoing, sometimes complicated friendship with her rock star ex-husband, the challenges of sharing an apartment with her father’s adopted aspiring musician daughter, and a long-term dog sitting job. There’s plot to spare, but the many mysteries, when solved, have little consequence, and the tone veers inexplicably between dark and light. Most endearing is Bea herself, who deals with the physical, psychological, economic, and romantic challenges of aging with humor and attitude. The memorable main character makes an otherwise flawed novel worth reading. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
A witty, startlingly astute dispatch from the societal graveyard of middle-aged women.”—People "Prickly but vulnerable, Bea is an irresistible character, and Gangi’s novel is less a chronicle of growing up in the shadow of an artist parent as it is a late-in-life coming-of-age story. Fans of Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017) will find as much to love in this novel as those of Myla Goldberg’s Feast Your Eyes (2019) and Dawnie Walton’s The Final Revival of Opal Nev (2021)." —Booklist, starred review “Carry the Dog . . . takes up critiques of visual culture within a very personal context: a novel about aging and coming to terms with childhood trauma. By placing these conundrums inside the body of a 60-year-old woman experiencing a long-delayed coming of age, she speaks to the many women...who are going through this transition. It’s a deeply ironic moment . . . to perceive themselves, finally, as themselves, even as they are becoming invisible to the world that has fetishized them . . . When such a change is touched on in books or film, too often it’s a source of tragedy, even madness. Gangi, in refreshing contrast, argues that invisibility is freeing.” —Los Angeles Times "There was something so authentic about this novel, and the awkward, earnest grace of the bright light at its center, Bea. It's a book about resilience, and the imperative of defining yourself to yourself, and a riveting reminder that nothing in this life is ever too late. I loved it." —Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes “Magnificent . . . A dark, utterly convincing exploration of family trauma and individual survival . . . It’s easy to forget that Carry the Dog is fiction; it feels deeply real, like a true memoir from a slightly alternate world just beyond our reach.”—New York Journal of Books “Carry the Dog is a fantastic novel about art, fame, aging and the unfathomable mystery of family. Stephanie Gangi writes with a rare mix of grace and urgency.” —Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions “I can’t remember the last time I was as completely bewitched by a fictional character as I was by Bea Seger in Stephanie Gangi’s Carry The Dog. What a treat to view life through the eyes of this funny, smart, gutsy woman, who has suffered its outrageous slings and arrows, and just keeps coming back for more.” —Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and Chances Are . . . “Stephanie Gangi’s Carry the Dog is powered by insight and true wit as it explores families and their aftershocks, as well as art, regret, and the state of being an older, desiring female in a world that too often looks away. I enjoyed it immensely.” —Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Female Persuasion “An elegiac absorbing novel . . . artful . . . the reflective mood and intense narration recreate the artistic world of a bygone era.”—Foreword Reviews “Memorable . . . Most endearing is the character of Bea, who deals with the physical, psychological, economic, and romantic challenges of aging with humor and attitude.” —Publishers Weekly “A smart, sophisticated, lively read.”—Kirkus Reviews “A keenly observed and devastating novel. Though Bea’s is a voice that, at times, made me laugh with recognition, her story is so dark and compelling that I woke before dawn to finish reading.” —Polly Samson, author of A Theater for Dreamers
“A witty, startlingly astute dispatch from the societal graveyard of middle-aged women.”—People "Prickly but vulnerable, Bea is an irresistible character, and Gangi’s novel is less a chronicle of growing up in the shadow of an artist parent as it is a late-in-life coming-of-age story. Fans of Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017) will find as much to love in this novel as those of Myla Goldberg’s Feast Your Eyes (2019) and Dawnie Walton’s The Final Revival of Opal Nev (2021)." —Booklist, starred review “Carry the Dog . . . takes up critiques of visual culture within a very personal context: a novel about aging and coming to terms with childhood trauma. By placing these conundrums inside the body of a 60-year-old woman experiencing a long-delayed coming of age, she speaks to the many women...who are going through this transition. It’s a deeply ironic moment . . . to perceive themselves, finally, as themselves, even as they are becoming invisible to the world that has fetishized them . . . When such a change is touched on in books or film, too often it’s a source of tragedy, even madness. Gangi, in refreshing contrast, argues that invisibility is freeing.” —Los Angeles Times "There was something so authentic about this novel, and the awkward, earnest grace of the bright light at its center, Bea. It's a book about resilience, and the imperative of defining yourself to yourself, and a riveting reminder that nothing in this life is ever too late. I loved it." —Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes “Magnificent . . . A dark, utterly convincing exploration of family trauma and individual survival . . . It’s easy to forget that Carry the Dog is fiction; it feels deeply real, like a true memoir from a slightly alternate world just beyond our reach.”—New York Journal of Books “Carry the Dog is a fantastic novel about art, fame, aging and the unfathomable mystery of family. Stephanie Gangi writes with a rare mix of grace and urgency.” —Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions “I can’t remember the last time I was as completely bewitched by a fictional character as I was by Bea Seger in Stephanie Gangi’s Carry The Dog. What a treat to view life through the eyes of this funny, smart, gutsy woman, who has suffered its outrageous slings and arrows, and just keeps coming back for more.” —Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and Chances Are . . . “Stephanie Gangi’s Carry the Dog is powered by insight and true wit as it explores families and their aftershocks, as well as art, regret, and the state of being an older, desiring female in a world that too often looks away. I enjoyed it immensely.” —Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Female Persuasion “An elegiac absorbing novel . . . artful . . . the reflective mood and intense narration recreate the artistic world of a bygone era.”—Foreword Reviews “Memorable . . . Most endearing is the character of Bea, who deals with the physical, psychological, economic, and romantic challenges of aging with humor and attitude.” —Publishers Weekly “A smart, sophisticated, lively read.”—Kirkus Reviews “A keenly observed and devastating novel. Though Bea’s is a voice that, at times, made me laugh with recognition, her story is so dark and compelling that I woke before dawn to finish reading.” —Polly Samson, author of A Theater for Dreamers
Kirkus Reviews
2021-08-18
The daughter of a famous photographer confronts her mother's difficult legacy and the challenges of aging.
"The brink of sixty, it's rough terrain for anybody, time to take stock of your life even if you didn't have Miriam Marx as a mother," writes her daughter Bea, who's working on a memoir at a glacial pace. Miriam is a very dark version of a Sally Mann character—a photographer who made her reputation with nude pictures of her children that continued into puberty, pictures that sound disturbing enough to merit the charges of child pornography they engendered. Since Miri's suicide when Bea was a teenager, which came just months after the death of one of Bea's older twin brothers, her oeuvre has garnered more and more attention. Now both Hollywood and MoMA are knocking on Bea's door, and despite her understandable wish to let sleeping dogs lie, she needs the money. The Hollywood connection comes through Gary Going, Bea's ex-husband, a Lou Reed–style rock star now in his 70s. After making his fame with songs Bea wrote but was inadequately credited for, he remains her sole financial support and closest friend. Gangi, who thoroughly entertained readers with her debut novel, The Next(2016), spins a much darker story here. The greatest achievement of the book is the character of Bea. Having been focused on for her appearance since infancy, she is having a tough time with what she sees as the loss of her beauty and sex appeal. Yes, she is damaged, but her heart is big—she's practically adopted not only her neighbor's dog, but her father's adopted daughter from a second marriage; a standout section takes the two of them down to visit him in assisted living in Florida. The final act of the novel is overcrowded with terrible reveals as Bea finally opens her mother's archive and decides what to do about her past and her future.
A smart, sophisticated, lively read with the dysfunctional frosting laid on a little thick.
