Author:  Anne Lamott

Title:  Imperfect Birds

Publisher:  Riverhead

Imperfect Birds tracks the futile attempts of overwhelmed parents Elizabeth and James to keep their wayward daughter, Rosie, from self-destructing.

On the surface Rosie is an accomplished high school junior-almost-senior. She teaches tennis lessons after school, maintains an A average in her classes, willingly spends time with her mom, and enjoys a close circle of friends. But Rosie's real life could not be more different. Addicted to drugs, she's never met a substance she wasn't willing to abuse, nor a guy she wouldn't seduce (or try to). An accomplished liar and manipulator, Rosie consistently and progressively deceives her parents until the charade cracks and she teeters on the brink of destruction.

Her mother, Elizabeth, fighting her own battle with depression, begins to catch glimpses of Rosie's real life but chooses to believe the best of her. She is worn down by Rosie's emotional blackmail, manipulative ways, and half-truths, unable to cope with the reality she's afraid might be overtaking her daughter's life. Like most parents, Elizabeth allows herself to fear the "what ifs" about her child—what if Rosie's car is wrapped around a tree, what if she's been attacked, what if—but unlike most parents, Elizabeth can't get past her fears and they begin to influence her relationships with both her husband, James, and Rosie. Addicted to Rosie's love and approval, Elizabeth avoids enforcing even lame rules, refuses to confront white lies, and starts keeping Rosie's secrets from James.

Rosie's self-destructive slide bottoms out dramatically. Will she recover? Will Elizabeth finally stand up to her and demand change? How can this family survive the mayhem that drug addiction has wrought?

Even as I ask those closing questions, I want to add, "Who cares?" Because I really didn't like any of the characters, and that makes it difficult to care what happens to them ultimately. Though Anne Lamott writes vividly, with engaging glimpses of her trademark wit, her word skills just didn't translate into storytelling success. Perhaps the disturbing subject matter influenced my perspective—a family torn apart by a spoiled, lying, egocentric, addicted teenager did not make for happy reading. Rosie's antics quickly became tiresome, and I kept wondering when Elizabeth would finally listen to James, who saw rather clearly what was happening.

Rosie's slide into oblivion happens within a six-month period. It becomes clear early on where she's headed, but the action progresses in slow motion. We get bogged down in Rosie's repetitive pattern of lying, justifying her lies, recovering from her latest trip on the latest drug, and looking for the next high.

As a parent, I found this book difficult to read. Rosie is portrayed as an average teenager—if this is "average," then I have much to be worried about as my children grow up. Lamott writes convincingly of dark behaviors that are apparently normal in our society. Teachers and parents of teens will learn valuable insights into behaviors and patterns of addicts, but is that the purpose of the novel? Be aware—in keeping with the disturbing subject matter, Lamott laces conversations with random obscenities typical of today's culture.

Lamott reprises the character of Rosie, who was introduced in Rosie (1997) and continued in Crooked Little Heart (1998), so Imperfect Birds will feel like familiar territory to her fiction fans. Yet this work reinforces why Lamott is much more beloved for her nonfiction than for her fiction.

**This review first published on May 4, 2010.