I really hate the term WASP

...And in fact, that is probably my biggest gripe with this book.

Mating Rituals of the North American WASP - Lauren Lipton
New York: 5 Spot, 2009

I definitely did not expect to find myself so wrapped up in this book. I mean, it's a "oops, we accidentally got married in Vegas and now are going to pretend the marriage is legit for some ridiculous reason" chick lit plot. But I read a good review of it somewhere, and I was still adrift after finishing Infinite Jest (a post I still can't bring myself to write), so here it was.

And I have to say, I kind of loved it. I'm not sure why. I didn't love the characters, but then, I liked them much better when they were with one another. And maybe that's the hallmark of a good romance. And the whole poem thing is kinda awesome. Actually, the poetry may have been the key. I am a sucker for books that quote Yeats. And then the snippets of verse that lodge themselves inside Luke's head... I walked around with them too. "An aphrodisiac will disappear, delusional, like permanence or wealth" and especially "staid genes worked hot from your electric charms." In the cursed heat and smoke of late August, these lines hung in the air around me.

Or maybe it wasn't the poetry, or the love story, but rural Connecticut and old money. Snow is mighty appealing when you are starting to think that you may never not be too hot again. Or maybe I'm reliving a chapter of my youth; as my mom said to me last weekend, haven't I already done the Connecticut WASPy thing? Oh, but believe me, he was not Luke.

Whatever it was, the novel demanded my attention. And refused to let me go. And that was it.