Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Author: Maria Semple

Rating: ⭐ 3/5

Date Read: 2013/11/07

Pages: 330

Where’d You Go, Bernadette is one of those books that’s not particularly bad; the issue is that it’s not particularly good either. I could never tell if it was taking itself too seriously, or not seriously enough. Did it want to be literary? Satirical? A guilty pleasure? A glimpse into the lives of upper-class parents? Who knows. It tried to do too much, and ended up not doing anything well. I can’t figure out why so many people like this book. I’m racking my brain trying to come up with anything interesting to say about it.

The only real thing I got from this book was that it would be super cool to go to Antarctica. Once my net worth gets high enough, I’m totally booking a vacation.

Author Maria Semple once wrote for Arrested Development, which explains why I kept thinking that some episodes from this book would have worked better on film. Find a great actress to play obnoxious helicopter parent Audrey Griffin, and her interactions with Bernadette would have been hilarious. A film version of her house being destroyed by a mudslide while a class full of kindergarteners watched would be freaking television gold. I think this sort of story is just more suited for the visual medium. It’s too zany and, frankly, too plebeian to masquerade as literature. Turn it into a movie, though, and I’ll definitely watch it. Until then, I’m going to forget this ever happened.