Stuff I've Read: Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont

It’s amazing what people will endure for their children’s sake. Some will take on extra work at terrible jobs, working double and triple shifts to avoid having their kids struggle. Some will suffer the indignities of a broken relationship, sweeping the indiscretions of a spouse under the rug to maintain the image of a happy and unified home. And most will do it with a smile to protect their children from the complex realities of being an adult. But what happens to the effort when that illusion is broken? That’s the question that drives Julia Pierpont’s much-heralded 2015 debut, Among the Ten Thousand Things.

And, just like the date on your expired milk, this is a SPOILER ALERT.

Among the Ten thousand Things by Julia Pierpont

Deb Shanley has quietly dealt with her sculptor husband’s affair for months, with an unspoken agreement between them; he ends it, and they don’t tell the kids so they can work on their marriage as if nothing wrong. But when a box arrives addressed to Deb, containing printed copies of every illicit email and text Jack sent his unnamed (and now ignored) mistress—and is discovered by the couple’s 11-year old daughter and 15-year-old son—the mirage fades and the dynamic of this family is forever upended. Jack and Deb now have to endure the angsty ire of their son, Simon, and pre-teen Kay is forced to grapple with concepts of love, marriage, and adulthood she’s can barely process. To protect the kids (and gain some space from Jack). Deb takes an old family friend up on an offer to spend some the summer at the old Rhode Island beach house they shared when they were younger. Deb learns to be without her husband and adjusts to the idea of being a single mother, while Jack flounders since his work and his family are both failing at the same time.

Among the Ten Thousand Things has a lot going for it. Julia Pierpont is a gifted storyteller and navigates language like a leaf on the wind. The hook is compelling and the moments immediately following Kay discovering the box of emails were tense and moving and had me turning through the first 40-60 pages with my mouth open wide. She creates characters that act like fully realized people, with likes, dislikes, and hobbies. Simon’s a gamer with a budding high school social network, and Kay writes Seinfeld fanfiction while navigating the mean girls in middle school.

However, after those initial 40-60 pages I found it difficult to connect to the story as it seemed to spin its wheels for long stretches and lose the thread of what it was supposed to be about. Was this a story of a failed marriage in its death throes? The story of a broken family’s summer vacation? About the effects of infidelity on the kids? When the story does focus, it chooses the adults. Deb is going through a kind of self-absorption that blinds her to her kids needs and action, while Jack goes on a vision quest of sorts to rediscover his career. By this point, the other characters settle into roles that are cardboard cut-outs of the characters they are supposed to be. Simon leans full-bore into being an insufferable teenager, complete with girl trouble and embarrassment being around his family. Kay, who is the most fascinating character by leaps and bounds, becomes the caricature of a traumatized little girl, and the lewd content of the emails finds its way into her fanfic. Even Jack settles into the well-worn territory of the failed artist and cheating husband. The character depth built up in the early parts of the book is all undone by the end. For a story that was so clearly intended to make the reader feel something for this family, by the end I simply did not care.

Pierpont also makes some unconventional stylistic choices as the story moves forward. The novel is broken up into four parts—two in the present day two in “That Year and Those That Followed.” The story alternates from present to future, and parts two and four serve as an epilogue to a story that’s ongoing. This didn’t resonate well with me; knowing the fate family in the middle of the book—that Jack and Deb get divorced, Deb finds a new relationship, Simon and Kay grow up into reasonably well-adjusted adults—nearly invalidates all the dramatic tension that comes after. Another quirky style choice is to put a couple of chapters wholly in parentheses. It pulled me out of the story and made me focus on the writing. I think of that stuff as literary stunt work, and it’s a longstanding pet peeve of mine, no matter how well-written it is. I routinely complain about a certain book I read that has similar stunt work, an 11-page sentence that serves no purpose other than showcasing how good of a writer the author thought they were. It’s a personal distaste, and doesn’t change the story in any way, but it was worth noting.

Among the Ten Thousand Things is a technically impressive novel by a clearly gifted writer. It starts out well and promises characters and a story filled with nuance and dimension. For all it’s promised depth, though, the story is ultimately too shallow to float my boat.

Pros: Well-written, great concept

Cons: Odd stylistic choices, story falls flat

Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

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