Rebecca Makkai's "The Borrower," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai.

The entry begins:

A small part of me hopes that if The Borrower is ever turned into a movie, Charlie Kaufman will write the script and turn it into a twisted meta-film wherein both he and I are characters getting kidnapped by my protagonist.

Failing that, I’d hope for a Little Miss Sunshine aesthetic. Quirky but not cutesy. I love movies where there’s so much clutter in the background that it feels absolutely real. Little Miss Sunshine was like that, as was the underrated The Family Stone. The early part of The Borrower is set in the children’s section of a public library, and I’d hate to see a sanitized version. There should be books and puppets and germy puzzles and posters everywhere. Lucy isn’t a particularly organized or responsible librarian, either, and I think it’s been a long time since she’s taken the Lysol to the board books.

On the other hand, I’d also love a surreal, glossy, Amélie-style glow over...[read on]

Among the early praise for The Borrower:

"Rebecca Makkai’s The Borrower is full of books, libraries, cross-country hijinks, accidental parenting, love gone wrong and friendships gone right. Makkai will have you cheering for her librarian heroine, who has all the history and darkness of a Russian novel in her veins, mixed with the humor and spirit of Bridget Jones. A fun, moving, and delightful read."
—Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief

"[A]an appealing, nonromantic love story about an unexpected pairing — and a surprisingly moving one."
—New York Times

"An accomplished short-story writer, Makkai has written a splendid first novel that cleverly weaves telling references to children’s books into her whimsically patchwork plot. Larger-than-life characters and an element of the picaresque add to the book’s delights. Best of all, however, is Lucy’s absolutely unshakable faith in the power of books to save. From her lips, readers, to God’s ear."
—Booklist (starred review)

“How could any reader of any age resist Rebecca Makkai’s charming The Borrower?”
—O Magazine

"An electrifying debut about the moral choices we’re confronted with in today’s America. Uproariously funny, but with a bittersweet core, Makkai’s voice is so assured and lovely, she had me hooked by the end of her first paragraph and quite sorry to come to the end of her last one.”
—Tiffany Baker, author of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

“Rarely is a first novel as smart and engaging and learned and funny and moving as The Borrower. Rebecca Makkai is a writer to watch, as sneakily ambitious as she is unpretentious.”
—Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Learn more about the author and her work at Rebecca Makkai's website.

Writers Read: Rebecca Makkai (August 2009).

My Book, The Movie: The Borrower.

--Marshal Zeringue