Lying chapers 1-7

This has turned out to be a much more complicated book than I expected. Before I even opened the book, I expected this to be a twisted take "like a question mark" as implied on the title page. This was compounded by the revelation that the doctor, Hayward Krieger, does not even exist. What I found most interesting about this is the style of introduction has a tone of honesty. It starts out by referencing Lauren Slater (real) and her book, Welcome to My Country (also real). So even though the reader is thoroughly prepared for lies, the introduction seems immune. We shouldn't have been so gullible.

Next, I expected the book to be an account of epilepsy. I thought it would be first person perspective on the illness the way Benjy's chapter in The Sound and the Fury illustrates mental retardation. And in a sense it does, but I can't separate the truth from the exaggerations. Because if the character actually does have epilepsy all of the occurrences could be true. Was she dropped on her head at age three? If so, did it contribute to her epilepsy. Or is she faking the whole illness as she proposes in chapter 4 and 5 with the annals of Psychiatry and the research paper? The questions just keep piling on like a car crash pile up. Once you mull over one perplexing fact, you're hit with another one to decipher.

This makes the book a lot of fun. I never would have read this on my own. I still think its too strange for me yet I'm glad we're reading it because I'm enjoying the story.