Great start. Main character as little boy sees hanged man at the crossroads--the old days. He throws a rock at the corpse, then vomits in sorrow/confusion at the scene. His uncle Ambrose raises him. Idyllic male world, but Ambrose has rheumatism. he goes to Italy for the winter, falls in love with their cousin Rachel, gives up his bachelor status, marries her, is happy, stays in Italy, sends letters indicating he is miserable, dies. Main Character now is in Italy trying to sort all this out. Who is Rachel? Young? Old? Kind? A witch? We'll find out.
PUPPY Dysfunctional family has puppy that they need to get rid of. Mom places ad; family is coming over. Description of family. Mom: husband changed from long-haired attractive to stooped old man. Husband: talks constantly of living on a farm and doing what needs to be done, though he never lived on a farm. Conversations together: Sell and move to Arizona, get hooked on phonics for kids, buying a car wash. . . wonderful randomness. Straight-laced suburbanite comes to look at puppy. Seems like she will buy it, even though she is repelled by house. (Dog turds on carpet, filthy.) She is proud of how accepting she is until she looks out window and sees white trash's son tied by harness to a tree. Reader knows he is a menace to himself, darting across I-90, for example. Suburban mother beats hasty retreat, leaving dog to be (probably) drowned by dad who does what has to be done. Suburbanite remembers her own pathetic ch...
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