Stone Arabia

I picked up Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta, author of Eat the Document, as it seemed like an interesting departure from what I'd been reading. It follows Denise and Nik, siblings who grew up in 80's LA, now in their late 40's. Nik is a brilliant, but obscure, musician/artist who obsessively creates art only for himself and his sister, Denise, who more often than not ends up supporting him.

Spiotta is an original writer, delving into the depths of the sibling relationship and also into the mind of a true artist. However, the book was so depressing that I found it hard to read. We follow the slow loss of their mother's mind, while Denise herself is slowly losing her own memory and slipping into sadness. This is punctuated by brief pictures of the LA music scene.

None of the characters were fully developed (including Denise's daughter Ada who decides to make a documentary about Nik.) The story is messy and never really goes anywhere, like life itself, and this seems to be Spiotta's point.

Although I appreciate Spiotta's writing, the novel didn't really work for me.