A painfully sad portrait of the tragi-comedy of life peppered with violence, crudity and the tentativeness of reconciliation. Was Part One really necessary? It is reflected in the e.e cummings' prelude: 'The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches' but it makes the book harder to bear. An evocative, caustic, wryly comic, poignant, powerful cocktail that's hard to swallow.
