[An] extraordinary tale ... Terrifically comic ... Carusillo is a master of the vigorous and inclusive aside, employing a crackling blend of high and low diction ... Affirms that we can’t necessarily escape the conduct of our predecessors, while gleefully celebrating, one smashing sentence at a time, that there’s alchemy to be found in the hands of the right legatee.
By the end of the first paragraph of Claire Carusillo’s The Responsible Party, I was smitten. I’d laughed twice and been deeply impressed by a bravura turn of phrase at the paragraph’s conclusion ... This novel is brilliant, frequently laugh-out-loud funny and truly singular ... All of it is a great ride.
There are funny observations and witty descriptions buried in this text, lines to giggle at, or to be quietly amused. But it is heavy reading. There is so much of this kind of stylized lecturing, consuming the text is fatiguing ... A highly stylized narrative filled with observatory humor, witty phrases, and entertaining eccentricities. The question of authenticity becomes an important plot point, and Carusillo’s inclusion of an eponymous character further blurs these distinctions. There are plenty of pieces here to find something to enjoy, but maybe not all of them all at once.
Unruly and comic ... arusillo treats the Mounsey legend as a kind of vaudeville act itself, spectacular, improbable, and always slightly at odds with what actually happened.
