Dear Everybody

by Michael Kimball

Dear Everbody is compiled of letters to everybody that touched the writer's life - in good or bad ways. The recepients range from his parents to the Tooth Fairy. It also includes newspaper clippings, discussions between father and son, diary entries, a eulogy, etc.

A while back, I had an unpleasant reading experience with a novel made up entirely of e-mail correspondence between to people. It was a massive success in the German-speaking world. I thought it was horrible. Not so much because of the structure but the writing felt fake. Nobody writes like that. (The writer himself confesses to not having the patience to read novels, let alone write them.)

So I initially was a bit wary of this one, but hey, if both Stephen King and Dave Eggers plug it, how bad can it be?

I really, really liked it. It helped, of course, that the topic at hand is something that appeals to me (to read about only, mind you). The letters are suicide notes of sorts, mostly apologetic, some accusing. Through them, the main character tells about his difficult life. His mental state (diagnosed as depression) is addressed by doctor's reports, his mother's diary and a eulogy by his ex-wife.

It's a sad book not because of the suicide so much, but because of the devastating family life with a father that was both, neglecting and violent, and never wanted his son in the first place.

8/10