Title: Water in the Belly
Author: D.L. Snow
Publisher: Author Reputation Press LLC
ISBN: 979-8-88514-707-1
Pages: 510
Genre: Adult Fiction
Reviewed by: Michaela Gordoni
Pacific Book Review
Water in the Belly is about a man named Frank Holmes and his common-law wife, Sherry, who find themselves in the American recession of 2008. Placed alongside their story are some political observations and a story about a foreign spy, Butch Lautsky.
Author D.L. Snow describes Water in the Belly as a “pastiche of capitalism.” But it seems to be a whole lot of things. It is a complex combination of a modern parody of Homer’s Odyssey and a miscellany of thoughts. It contains paragraphs of thoughts mixed in with the story. At times, it can be somewhat intense as the format is quite challenging to follow. Sometimes the dialogue is preceded by dashes, or sometimes bits of writing are preceded by symbols that look like bullet points. There are many paragraphs comprised entirely of thoughts in the form of questions. The writing also changes perspectives from Frank’s point of view to typical narrative dialogue with no warnings or transitions.
Intertwined with the parody are thoughts about U.S. politics, religion, events, the constitution, the state of the world, congress, etc. Words such as “rebirth” and “zen” are mentioned quite a bit throughout the book. An excerpt from Water in the Belly that speaks to the mixture of story, thoughts, writing style, is: “Sherry’s religion is the Catholic Church. We need our mythodology to let us get a foothold on the world of Homer. The dead immortal God like Zeus. The Odyssey is the story of a man who spent 10 years at war and spent 10 years coming home, with references to The Iliad throughout the former classic by Homer. It’s all time, the tropes of history. For Public Policy.”
It is an intellectual maze to fully come to grasp with this extensive piece of literature. Perhaps there is more artistry and genius within than what appears on the surface. Water in the Belly will be of interest to Homer’s Odyssey enthusiasts, or perhaps it is just one person’s unique and untranslated thoughts about America and how a man in the 2008 recession era can be compared to Homer’s Odyssey. Regardless, D.L. Snow certainly deserves credit for her creativity and pursuit of such a difficult task as writing this unusual 500-page novel.
