Cutting Lisa

Cutting Lisa
By Percival Everett

Some books are worth reading just for one sentence. Cutting Lisa is one of these books.
I've blogged about Percival Everett before, but let it suffice to say I think he is the single most under-recognized author in America today. His stark minimalist prose can be devastating or comforting depending on what Everett wants.
Cutting Lisa is about an older man named John who visits his adult son Elgin and creates a new, albeit temporary, life for himself there. The book, as all of Everett's seem to do, deals with a lot of issues in a surprisingly short number of pages. John starts a relationship with a much-younger woman at the same time as he makes new friends his own age. He reconnects with his granddaughter while he discovers his daughter-in-law's infidelities. John struggles to stay on top of everything as the world spins underneath him.
The narrative isn't necessarily one of an older man trying to keep up with changing times, although that is a bit of it. It's more about a man trying to reconnect with his family the only way he knows how. John and Elgin's relationship is incredibly well-written. It has a feeling closer to friendship than a father-son bond but still feels natural.
But what really ties the book together is the beginning and ending. The beginning is about John at the hospital in which he works (John is an obstetrician) and another doctor calls him in to see a woman who underwent a successful home c-section at the hands of her husband. It disturbs John but also strikes him as beautiful. The ending I'll leave for readers to find out, but it ties amazingly to the beginning and showcases Everett's absolute genius in his ability to craft stories. At just under 150 pages, it's closer to a short story than a novel, but the last line will leave you shaking.