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Brood
Brood | Jackie Polzin
9 posts | 11 read | 4 to read
An exquisite new literary voice--wryly funny, nakedly honest, beautifully observational, in the vein of Jenny Offill and Elizabeth Strout--depicts one woman's attempt to keep her four chickens alive while reflecting on a recent loss Over the course of a single year, our nameless narrator heroically tries to keep her small brood of four chickens alive despite the seemingly endless challenges that caring for another creature entails. From the forty-below nights of a brutal Minnesota winter to a sweltering summer which brings a surprise tornado, she battles predators, bad luck, and the uncertainty of a future that may not look anything like the one she always imagined. Intimate and startlingly original, this slender novel is filled with wisdom, sorrow and joy. As the year unfolds, we come to know the small band of loved ones who comprise the narrator's circumscribed life at this moment. Her mother, a flinty former home-ec teacher who may have to take over the chickens; her best friend, a real estate agent with a burgeoning family of her own; and her husband whose own coping mechanisms for dealing with the miscarriage that haunts his wife are more than a little unfathomable to her. A stunning and brilliantly insightful meditation on life and longing that will stand beside such modern classics as H is for Hawk and Gilead, Brood rewards its readers with the richness of reflection and unrelenting hope.
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review
Tamra
Brood | Jackie Polzin
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Pickpick

😆 I didn‘t know this was fiction until I finished listening to it. The content & style is so convincing I thought it was a memoir. However, it is apparently based on the author‘s experiences and she also lives in the Twin Cities, MN where it‘s set. No wonder!

I‘ve always wanted to keep chickens IN THEORY. 😜 The reality is I‘d be an unhappy cluck having to care for them in subzero temps.

Writing is beautiful in places.

jlhammar One of my favorites from last year. Glad you enjoyed it! 2y
Tamra @jlhammar it was quite short and that worked in its favor. 2y
59 likes2 comments
review
Chelsea.Poole
Brood | Jackie Polzin
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Pickpick

Or be able to read so so much about them and not throw the book…?? I‘m pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this short novel. The MC has suffered loss and has thrown her attention at keeping chickens in her backyard. There‘s warmth, and even humor, though readers see the heart of the matter is her attempt at recovering from a very personal trauma. Her mother is lovely and her husband is in the background, but the chickens are top priority.

Breanne1 Who doesn‘t love 🐓 🐥 2y
jlhammar Yay! So glad you enjoyed it! The parts with her mother were my favorite. 2y
Chelsea.Poole @Breanne1 lol I‘d have chickens if my husband would go along with the idea. But I would worry about them in the cold! 🐓 2y
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Chelsea.Poole @jlhammar oh my goodness same! She reminded me of my mom, a bit 🥰 2y
Breanne1 We live in the cold and my husband had to convince me that chickens were amazing and now I adore them all…so there is hope!!! 2y
Chelsea.Poole @Breanne1 oh nice! How many do you all have? 2y
Breanne1 We started with 10 and now have 40. Lots of them are little chickens called D‘uccles. They are super friendly and follow you around the yard. 2y
Chelsea.Poole @breanne1 oh my gosh that sounds so sweet! 😊 2y
82 likes1 stack add8 comments
blurb
jlhammar
Brood | Jackie Polzin
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#12Booksof2021 Read this debut back in April and it has really stayed with me. Moving, funny, wise, original. Also, absolutely love this cover!

review
Sapphire
Brood | Jackie Polzin
Pickpick

I know this one has a “love it or hate it” effect, but I thought it was hysterical. I really enjoyed the dead pan midwestern style telling. While she talks about chickens even though it‘s not about chickens, I don‘t think it‘s about infertility either (having lived that). I think it‘s about the fears and joys of parenting being one and the same, maybe even the terrors and triumphs of life itself.

quote
Sapphire
Brood | Jackie Polzin
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The eye of a chicken is all that is left of the dinosaurs, a little portal into the era of nut-size brains. Meaning cannot be derived from a chicken‘s eye because meaning does not exist there. But, also, the craziness of the eye obscures everything.

review
Jebpix
Brood | Jackie Polzin
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Pickpick

I loved this book. Beautifully written. Great on audio.

BkClubCare Cool cover 2y
8 likes1 comment
blurb
BookishMarginalia
Brood | Jackie Polzin
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#CurrentlyListening to this novel about raising chickens… I had high hopes! But alas: 16% in and I wish this were a nonfiction memoir instead of a novel. I think I‘d rather learn about chickens. I‘m not caring about any of these characters at all…

UPDATE: 25% and still meh

UPDATE 2: Bailing at 30% — life‘s too short

NikkiM5 😂 love this. Boo characters, yay chickens 3y
73 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
Megabooks
Brood | Jackie Polzin
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Panpan

Uggghhh! Worst book I‘ve read so far this year. She was going for Jenny Offill, but it was too literally about raising backyard chickens. I didn‘t get any of the nuance that would have made it more about her infertility (which is what the author was obviously going for). Even one of my favorite narrators, Rebecca Lowman, couldn‘t save this! Thank goodness for libraries. #audiobook

Spoiler in comments.

squirrelbrain Oh dear, and the blurb here on Litsy compares it to many fabulous books and authors.... 😬 3y
Megabooks @squirrelbrain I always wonder if I‘m being harsh when I write a bad review, but I have strong feeling about this one. She‘s definitely going for Jenny Offill, like hardcore trying to turn these chickens into a metaphor, but it REALLY didn‘t work for me! 3y
squirrelbrain Well, I won‘t be trying it for sure Meg! 3y
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Megabooks @squirrelbrain I‘ll be interested to see what other Littens think about it. 3y
Megabooks I get the fact that the dead chickens represent her miscarriage and her wondering whether she‘s fit to be a mother. And I totally get that having a chicken almost live to the end of the book gives her hope that someday she will be pregnant, but when that chicken dies, and she leaves town, I realize she‘s subsuming her dreams to her husband‘s. I get it. But it‘s still too much about chicken rearing, and there‘s no ambiguity to these revelations. (edited) 3y
Cinfhen Ugh! After Milk Fed I think I need a break from all these metaphors (edited) 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen yeah, some literary fiction writers have gone off the deep end with it. 3y
BarbaraBB Great review nevertheless 🤣 3y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB thanks!! 😂😂 3y
BookNAround I didn‘t much like the Jenny Offill I‘ve read (Dept. of Speculation) so hard to know if I‘d like this more or less. 😂 3y
Megabooks @BookNAround lol!! 😂🤷🏻‍♀️ 3y
84 likes1 stack add11 comments
blurb
LeslieO
Brood | Jackie Polzin
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I think this will be another winning #ShelfSubscription from The Bookshelf. It sounds so good!

MeganAnn Love this cover! 😍 3y
LeahBergen Happy Birthday, friend!! ❤️📚❤️📚 3y
LeslieO Thanks, Leah! @LeahBergen 3y
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Erinreadsthebooks 😍Have you been pleased with the shelf sub? I keep talking myself out of it. Annie‘s would definitely be my choice. 3y
LeslieO @Erinreadsthebooks I have been very pleased with my Shelf Subscription. Annie‘s picks have been spot on. (edited) 3y
WanderingBookaneer What did you think of this one? 3y
LeslieO @WanderingBookaneer I must confess that I haven‘t read it yet! 3y
WanderingBookaneer I started it this morning and am underwhelmed. The Litsy rating is zero with one person bailing and another giving it a so-so. I‘ll finish it tomorrow and rate it myself. 3y
LeslieO @WanderingBookaneer oh that‘s disappointing. I‘ve heard good things on a couple podcasts. Let me know what you think. 3y
30 likes9 comments