Little Children

Little Children was written by Tom Perotta, who also wrote Election which was turned into a freakishly funny movie. While my memory might be wrong, I think I bought his other book, Joe College and didn't like it so much. For whatever reason, I persevered and bought Little Children and I have to say...this is one of the better books I've read in a long time.
This book falls more into the "character-driven" category rather than "plot-driven," and folks who need a hard, tight plot might get frustrated. But it's there. The loose structure focuses on a very suburban neighborhood, and how various individuals react when a child molester moves in. To say that this is the dominant thread is incorrect, however - one mother begins an affair by jokingly kissing a strange man in a park and finding instant chemistry; another person is addicted to Internet porn, while another mother schedules sex with her husband for 9 p.m. on Tuesdays. The little children are, of course, not the three and four year olds that dominate all of their lives and thoughts (well, almost all their thoughts), but the parents themselves. They act childishly, they have hierarchies in their friendships that mimic the playground, and leave bags of burning dogshit on front porches as an act of spite.
The book is often very funny, at times acutely sad, and most importantly, it's true.
My Rating: 9.0/10.0
A final note - the picture here is the same cover as the book I own. In searching for this image, I noticed that there are other covers out there with goldfish in plastic bags, and another with the goldfish snack on them. I have to assume there was a variety of covers, and I like them all. A nice touch.