We used to await the Nobel Prize announcement with bated breath, wondering if the committee would finally recognize Philip Roth (no), Grace Paley (no), or Joyce Carol Oates (no, but there’s still time). 

Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize at the age of 89 in 2007. She did not seem especially pleased or respectful when a reporter helped her out of a taxi and informed her she’d won it. Her reaction was, “Oh, Christ!”  (I’d remembered it as “Oh, fuck,” but I rewatched the video, and either I misheard it the first time, or it has been edited.)

Some of Lessing’s books are masterpieces; others are not quite classics. Her bleak 1985 novel, The Good Terrorist, is a compelling read, with a flat, slightly distant style, reminiscent of great journalism, albeit with dialogue. In this engrossing novel, she explores the dynamics of a group of radical squatters.

The protagonist, Alice, is an intelligent, highly-organized radical woman in her thirties who has lived in squats on and off for years.  For four years, Alice and her best friend Jasper, a gay man, have lived with her mother. When she kicks them out, Alice and Jasper move into a squat in an abandoned, once-beautiful house in London.  It is already inhabited by a group of radical squatters who dream of joining the IRA. Alice puts home improvement before politics.

What is fascinating is Alice’s understanding of how to use the bureaucratic system.  She persuades a sympathetic woman at a city agency to take the house off the “condemned” list, explains to the utility companies why they must legally turn on the electricity and water, and finds an out-of-work carpenter who makes all the home repairs, from plumbing to electricity to roofing, with the help of Alice. Alice is much more stable than most of the group – but, alas, she loses control when the the  group plans a violent action in her absence. 

A stunning book. Alice is not a likable heroine, but we at least understand how she got that way through her reminiscences of family history.

WHY WE WON’T LIVE IN A SQUAT: WE’RE SETTLERS!

 Over the years the neighborhood has changed. Whether it has gone up or down is a matter of opinion. Let me describe the problem: It has been nouveaued!  On one side, we have nouveau riche Republicans.   They fly the flag and entertain a lot:  once they blocked the street for a surreal birthday shindig. But who doesn’t love a food truck? I just didn’t feel like Chinese, Mexican, French, salmon, ice cream, or champagne cake…

And then there are the Nouveau Nouveau, an even more annoying breed. They’re a hybrid group – a cross between Millennials and Generation Z –  and their backyard is a Disneyland playground for their spoiled brats.  Thank God there’s a hedge between us!   We pray to the Soccer gods that they’ll be at soccer practice all summer!

But even worse, I’ve got to admit, are hillbillies, Moms for Liberty, gangsters, drug addicts, and scam artists…

WILL THEY MOVE TO THE SUBURBS FOR THE POOLS AND SCHOOLS?