The Funny Moon Receives Kirkus Review!
A long-term relationship gone stale, a summer of searching, celebrity cameos, and a comic sensibility.
Claire, a 51-year-old massage therapist and energy healer, is fed up with husband Wally’s immaturity. “Scratch the surface of any man and you’ll find a boy,” notes her good friend Roz. Fifty-five-year-old Wally has unfulfilled dreams that feel urgent to him; unfortunately, he has little initiative to realize those dreams, which include writing a novel. After he receives a head injury and apparent visitations from an unexpected supernatural muse and some sexual adventures, readers won’t be sure if the two will be able to make things work together—or, for that matter, on their own. The main characters are most appealing during introspective moments, as readers learn what they once saw in each other and what they now hope for themselves. The pace is consistent and the tone light, although Lincoln overdoes the metaphors at times; Claire thinks about her life’s lack of “balance” and “fluidity”while practicing tai chi, for instance, and feels “adrift” on a canoe trip gone wrong. However, fun cameos by Terry Gross from National Public Radio, along with another surprise guest, may win readers over. The supporting cast keeps the subplots moving, and the couple’s activities, including attempting to date other people, volunteering at a dog rescue, and attending golf tournaments, prevent the story from becoming overly unfocused. Gus, a philosophical dog who communicates eloquently—and telepathically—with mildly psychic Claire, and Sifu, a dojo master, provide cosmic and comic grounding to the couple’s quest for connection. For better or worse, readers may come away with the feeling that these two lost souls might just deserve each other.
A brisk, humorous story of a middle-aged couple in an unmoored marriage, stumbling toward safe harbor.