Book #75 - Made in the U.S.A.

Made in the U.S.A.

Billie Letts

Blurb:  Lutie McFee's history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father long gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, 15-year-old Lutie lives in the god-forsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota with her twelve-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the 300-pound ex-girlfriend of her father. While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows and worrying about global warming and the endangerment of pandas. As if their life is not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy's old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off to Las Vegas in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number and, clearly, no interest in the kids he left behind. (from Goodreads)

Opening Sentence:  "Lutie McFee struggled into the too tight red, sleeveless turtleneck, smoothed it across her ribs, then checked herself out in the mirror of the Wal-Mart dressing room."

Length: Medium - 355 pages

Notes:  Years ago, I read Where the Heart Is.  I remembered loving the book - before the movie even came out. I think that's how this book made it to my "to read" list, as it is by the same author.  Let's just say that this wasn't my favorite.  Not only was it downright depressing through most of the book, but the main character - Lutie - was not likable at all.  And there was some pretty R-rated content through the book.  I found it pretty predictable, and almost too cliche in parts.  

Random quote : "Lutie shook her head, then was struck by the knowledge that this woman, this stranger with everything she owned stuffed into a rusted grocery cart, had recognized her as homeless, too.  She realized that her own eyes had taken on the look of desperation that belonged to people who had no shelter, no job, no money.  People without hope."

Recommend: no

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