“You have to have an IQ number less than 75 to be retarded. “I am thirty-two years old and I am not retarded,” says Perry. But look closer: Perry is “slow.” Don’t mistake that for being retarded. Crandall says the “L” in his name stands for “Lucky.” And considering he does win $12 million in the Washington State Lottery, you might suppose he is. And while that makes his once distant family glom onto him like a barnacle to a boat, it’s really his lack of brains and beauty that make Perry a hero to the reader. He is not a savvy, successful businessman. He is not the all-American boy next door. He is not blessed with a high IQ or charming good looks. And in society, Perry would not even be considered likeable. In Patricia Wood’s debut novel “Lottery,” her narrator is not what those in literary circles would call reliable.
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