A suburban housewife, a mother and grandmother, trapped in her own vision of stable Midwestern existence. Her estranged daughter, a victim to her own mind, who looks for compassion in faceless sex, who saves prescription meds to eventually kill herself. A mysterious street prophet who warns. Triptych: Mommy, Maggie, Malachi. Author and former Newcity staffer Kate Zambreno’s indictment of the modern-day American family, “O Fallen Angel,” is a portrait of damage, rough and haunting, yet at moments terrifically cutting and funny as well. Zambreno’s experimental prose balances streaming and choppy poetics with shocking rawness, and the effective use of pop-culture references—a boy, trouble, is referred to as Marlon Brando, a dog is named after Scott Peterson’s murdered wife—helps create a chilling quasi-reality. Strip malls, SUVs, fat asses, television and a long list of psychological disorders. America, our home. America the beautiful. (Tom Lynch)
Kate Zambreno reads from “O Fallen Angel” March 2 as part of the Parlor Series, 1511 N. Milwaukee, 2nd Floor. 7pm.
