Mr. Peanut
By Adam Ross
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780307454904, April 2011, 464pp.)
The Short of It:
Amusingly dark and witty.
The Rest of It:
Mr. Peanut is a story within a couple of other stories. The story that takes place in present day New York, is that of David Pepin’s. David is a computer game designer and his wife Alice teaches troubled children. They’ve got plenty of money but they are unable to have children of their own and they are as unhappy as a couple can be. Unhappy, times ten. She is obese, obsessed with dieting even though David seems to like her fat, and deathly allergic to peanuts. The two are so at odds with each other, that David spends hours fantasizing about her death. Killing her himself, to be more specific. So when Alice ingests peanuts and dies from anaphylactic shock, is it an accident? Did David have something to do with her death?
The second and third story, revolve around the two detectives investigating Alice’s death. One detective, Ward Hastroll, has his own marital issues. His wife Hannah has been bedridden for six months for no apparent reason. When he is not investigating the case, he is home with her, tempting her and trying to lure her out of bed. The other detective is Sam Sheppard who bears the name of a philandering osteopath from the 195o’s that murdered his pregnant wife, Marilyn. Much of the book is spent telling the story of the Sheppard from the 1950’s and at times, I found this story line to be more interesting than David’s, but how it plays out and why it’s even mentioned is totally bizarre to me.
As you can tell, this book is not your typical police procedural. In fact, it was difficult to tell what was going on at any given point in time since David’s profession as a game designer, often leads you to believe that he is fantasizing about something or dreaming up subplots in his head. In addition to the game designing gig, he is also writing a novel so when you read Mr. Peanut, you’re not sure if Ross the author is telling the story, or if David has somehow come to life, Â hijacked the story and run away with it.
This might seem like a total cluster-F of a story and in a lot of ways, it is but I enjoyed it immensely. It’s entertaining to read about screwed-up people and these folks have issues. Their hatred for one another has no boundaries and you end up not liking any of them, but somehow I was okay with that. Their daily interaction mimics (precisely, I might add) what a long married couple experiences daily. The numerous annoyances that make you bristle practically leap off the page, but most people don’t take it to the next level and fantasize about killing their significant other. Do they? That’s what makes this one so rich.
BUT, and there is a little BUT. If you expect this to be a cut and dry police procedural you are barking up the wrong tree. You won’t find that here. You will find yourself completely absorbed with the problems of one couple, only to be rudely shifted to the problems of a different couple. The jerking back and forth is both welcome and jarring. Almost the entire story is told by the males involved, which gives it a lopsided feel and the investigation is all over the place. From the start, you have little confidence that these two detectives will figure it out and in the end, there are numerous alternate endings that leave the true ending up to the reader.
If you appreciate a unique story, written in a non-traditional way, that may or may not be poking fun at the sanctity of marriage, then you will enjoy this book. When reading it, I didn’t want to stop and when I HAD to stop, all I wanted to do was pick it up again. It’s a book to be read in the moment, without picking it apart to figure out the whys. Just read it.
Source: Borrowed
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Book Chatter 
I read this when it was first released and thought it was pretty cool. Glad u got a chance to read it.
The tone of this one reminded me of Gone Girl a little bit. There is a lot of anger between the pages.
Sounds like the writer played a gamble and it paid off… I’d certainly like to read this book, it sounds very interesting…
It was a trip! Not very suspenseful as far as the death of his wife but good nonetheless.
I heard this author on NPR when this came out and remember really disliking him and not wanting to read his book. But everyone seems to love it, and I do like dark.
What didn’t you like about him? Was he a jerk? LOL. Now I have to find that interview.
I actually have this book but never made time for it. I did hear it was a mind trip!
It’s a trip in a Gone Girl way, but better written in my opinion.
This sounds like a book for me; I’m always looking for unusual police detective-like stories.
The cop stuff is bizarre. I mean, no detective would ever solve anything the way they handle things.
What a strange sounding book…
hey–this kind of sounds like our friend Murakami–the characters that you’re just not sure about, the not trying to fit the pieces together, the stories within stories. 🙂 Also–I’m glad I’m not the only one: “It’s entertaining to read about screwed-up people and these folks have issues.”
I love me some dysfunction and watching it unfold is wildly amusing to me! I should have been a psychiatrist!
This was a little bit like reading Murakami. There are a lot of dream/fantasy sequences but no cats, no shapely ears, no prostitutes. Darn.
One Gone Girl a year is enough for me! :p How many times can a book get thrown up against a wall and still get picked back up?? 😉
I threw Gone Girl at least twice. This one, I never threw. I know a lot of people did not like it though and that surprises me. You may not like any of the characters but there is no denying that it’s unique.
This one had been on my wishlist long back when it was first released. And as usual, I forgot about it. I’m going to request it from the library now.
O my… I know someone who’s highly allergic to peanuts. His friends had jokingly said ‘I know how to kill you easily.’ Never thought a story had been written along the same idea. Scary. Do these stories belong to the horror/suspense genre?
I’d say it’s more psychological drama than suspense.
I liked Gone GIrl & the dark twists, but I don’t know if I can read this one. Poking fun at marriage wouldn’t bother me but poking fun at people with anaphylactic peanut allergies does bother me… a lot. My son has this allergy and it hits too close to home. I just can’t find the humor in it at all.
The peanut allergy is of great concern to everyone. No one pokes fun at it, but it’s a critical piece of the story since it’s questionable if it was murder or suicide.
I love how weird this sounds! adding it to the pile!
Great review, Ti. I think I’m going to pick this one up. It sounds adventurous.