“The Hero of This Book” by Elizabeth McCracken: Puzzlingly inconsistent, humorous “novel” of daughter-mother relationship [see added note]

“I tried to surrender my dignity. I didn’t know you had any left, I could hear my mother say, she who loved jokes at my expense" (1, p. 70).

Comment: As discussed in past posts on other writers, italics are used to indicate that “I didn’t know you had any left” is heard—i.e., a voice in the head—not just an ordinary thought. And as previously discussed (search “voices” in this blog), when a mentally well, high-functioning person hears voices, they are often voices of alternate personalities, indicating that the person has multiple personality trait.

In general, the book’s overall aura of puzzling inconsistency—novel vs. memoir, loving vs. antagonistic relationship—may suggest multiple personality trait in the author and/or her mother. Search “puzzling inconsistency” in this blog for previous discussions.

I hope to refine my comments after I finish reading this book.

Added same day: I finished this book. Its ending adds to my sense of the narrator's changeable opinions and unreliability, which in and of itself might suggest that the author has multiple personality trait, since each one of the personalities may have its own point of view (although the regular, host personality is usually in touch with conventional reality).

I once knew a psychiatrist who suggested that multiple personality could be called "multiple reality."

In short, unreliable narrators may suggest that an author has multiple personality trait. Search "unreliable narrators" in this blog for previous discussions.

1. Elizabeth McCracken. The Hero of This Book (a novel). New York, ecco/HarperCollins, 2022.