Bed
Publication Date: August 2, 2011
256 Pages
On his 25th birthday Malcom Ede decides that he doesn't want to get out of bed. Ever. There is no real particular reason, but he even refuses to see his beautiful girlfriend, Lou.
It is now nearly 20 years later and Mal still has not left his bed. He has grown into the largest man in the world at over 1600 pounds. With every pound that Mal gains he pulls his parents and his younger brother deeper into his orbit. They are as trapped as he is in their home. Especially their mother. She bows to his every dietary whim and performs even the most common hygienic task for him so that he may not.
Bed is a very unique novel about one of the most dysfunctional families in literary history. Mal's brother escapes for a short period time, yet he is still pulled back into the orbit of dysfunction. Will Mal ever get out of bed or is he going to go the route of every large man before him? Will the family be able to survive or will they be destroyed by Mal's decision.
I would say that Bed is one of those novels that you can compare to a train wreck. You just can't turn away. The fact that Mal has such a strong hold on his family is fascinating in and of itself. Whether it be stubbornness or mental illness he is the way he is and in the end he is still loved by his family. I wouldn't say that the book is great, but it was was certainly one to make you think.
What an interesting concept for a book. I have suffered with depression in the past and know the feeling of not ever wanting to get out of bed well.
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