 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Entertainment Review |
| By: Andrew Winston Publisher: Agate |
“Looped” is a novel of broad scope in vision and a wide range of ambitious narratives. The storylines center around
seven groups of people, all of whom are connected in some way, as they traverse through their lives in the year
2000. Opening at the dawn of the Millennium and marking its chapters with days and months as the year
progresses, readers follow these characters through the life altering events that, in the end, bring them together.
There is Alice who deals with Brad, her boyfriend, the band they have together and the losses and successes with
both. There is Ellen, a film student whose father insists she support herself after she fails out of school, and Megan,
the second half of a turbulent relationship. There is Nathan in his first gay relationship with Robin, a melodramatic
chef. Elias runs a diner while coping with an estranged relationship with his daughter and granddaughter. A
customer who becomes a friend, Ng, is the beneficiary of Elias's good heart as he tries to make his name in comic
art. Another diner regular, Florence, tries to convince her sister-in-law that she is capable of carrying on after her
husband's death. The Duchossois family struggles to remain intact as they deal with their homeless daughter's
unexpected pregnancy, and Alphonse, who is Florence's mailman, comes to terms with his career-halting mistakes. It
is obvious from the start that there is an eighth character in the story, the city of Chicago.
As the characters move throughout the city, going from Bucktown to Logan Square to the Art Institute to Pilsen, the
reader is never given the opportunity to forget where this story is taking place. In some respects this is wonderful,
because there is a certain satisfaction in knowing so intimately the ins and outs of a story's setting, but Winston relies
so heavily on this knowledge that what should be background information resides steadily in the foreground,
detracting from the story itself.
What makes the storylines even more difficult to follow is Winston's decision to jump from one to another in very short
spurts. While this does lend the novel an intertwined feeling, as if all of these lives are inherently connected, the
snippets of plot and exposition do more to distance the reader from the narrative than to generate interest. With each
section of story lasting no more than a few pages, Winston never really gives his readers a chance to become fully
invested in his characters. Keeping track of seven distinct storylines, each with its own set of characters, is difficult
enough, but when those storylines fly past in constant rotation there isn't much the reader can do but hope that at
some point it will all mean something.
The diversity of the characters, their interconnected developments over the course of a singular year, and their
placement in a city that so many people love are all appealing elements. It is unclear if the characters would have
fared any better in the hands of a different writer; to construct seven plots and to prominently feature Chicago may
be too ambitious for one novel to accomplish. Readers may want to know these characters by the end of the book.
However, “Looped” offers several very compelling stories, if readers are able to follow.
seven groups of people, all of whom are connected in some way, as they traverse through their lives in the year
2000. Opening at the dawn of the Millennium and marking its chapters with days and months as the year
progresses, readers follow these characters through the life altering events that, in the end, bring them together.
There is Alice who deals with Brad, her boyfriend, the band they have together and the losses and successes with
both. There is Ellen, a film student whose father insists she support herself after she fails out of school, and Megan,
the second half of a turbulent relationship. There is Nathan in his first gay relationship with Robin, a melodramatic
chef. Elias runs a diner while coping with an estranged relationship with his daughter and granddaughter. A
customer who becomes a friend, Ng, is the beneficiary of Elias's good heart as he tries to make his name in comic
art. Another diner regular, Florence, tries to convince her sister-in-law that she is capable of carrying on after her
husband's death. The Duchossois family struggles to remain intact as they deal with their homeless daughter's
unexpected pregnancy, and Alphonse, who is Florence's mailman, comes to terms with his career-halting mistakes. It
is obvious from the start that there is an eighth character in the story, the city of Chicago.
As the characters move throughout the city, going from Bucktown to Logan Square to the Art Institute to Pilsen, the
reader is never given the opportunity to forget where this story is taking place. In some respects this is wonderful,
because there is a certain satisfaction in knowing so intimately the ins and outs of a story's setting, but Winston relies
so heavily on this knowledge that what should be background information resides steadily in the foreground,
detracting from the story itself.
What makes the storylines even more difficult to follow is Winston's decision to jump from one to another in very short
spurts. While this does lend the novel an intertwined feeling, as if all of these lives are inherently connected, the
snippets of plot and exposition do more to distance the reader from the narrative than to generate interest. With each
section of story lasting no more than a few pages, Winston never really gives his readers a chance to become fully
invested in his characters. Keeping track of seven distinct storylines, each with its own set of characters, is difficult
enough, but when those storylines fly past in constant rotation there isn't much the reader can do but hope that at
some point it will all mean something.
The diversity of the characters, their interconnected developments over the course of a singular year, and their
placement in a city that so many people love are all appealing elements. It is unclear if the characters would have
fared any better in the hands of a different writer; to construct seven plots and to prominently feature Chicago may
be too ambitious for one novel to accomplish. Readers may want to know these characters by the end of the book.
However, “Looped” offers several very compelling stories, if readers are able to follow.
