Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy
Family trauma shapes a student’s affair with her teacher in this bleak and funny fiction debut from the American memoirist
TL;DR
- Jennette McCurdy's debut fiction novel, "Half His Age," continues themes from her memoir "I'm Glad My Mom Died," focusing on parent-child estrangement and loss of identity.
- The protagonist, Waldo, a high school senior, exhibits dissociative behaviors and coping mechanisms like online shopping addiction due to her chaotic mother's influence.
- Waldo becomes obsessed with her married English teacher, Mr. Korgy, leading to a complex and uneven dynamic explored with savage yet humane observations.
- The novel navigates themes of lust, disgust, masochism, and the illusion of control within unequal power dynamics.
- McCurdy's writing is described as textured, artfully unpicking the multilayered nature of trauma with a blend of bleakness, humor, and discomfort.