The bad white noise

Mister Magic

By Kiersten White

I was 14 out of 15 minutes into my decision to return this book without finishing it. The more I listened to it, the more drawn out the story became (it was hard for me to follow… like the paintbrush strokes felt too vast). It took a while for me to get adjusted to what was happening.

Some of the early scenes reminded me of  Stephen King’s ‘IT’(1986) when the adults, after somewhat moving on with their lives, were drawn back into a terrifying character from their childhood.

After some time, I was like, maybe there’s a spell on this book… like the same evil power that these kids in the book are fighting, one that’s making me listen to this longwinded book…the ‘magic’ is making me see it though. 

It wasn’t until I got down to the last couple hours of the 10+ hour listen that I was HOOKED like a fish at Bass Pro shop; terrified yet fully invested (hmmm was it the magic again?).

The story of Mister Magic is thick with honest and eerily difficult layers of toxic programming that intersect across as many areas of life as you allow it to touch. Several of the themes the author referenced resonated with both adult and childhood me. While this book is loosely about kids and play, it’s definitely not a game.

And when the book shifted at the end from telling the story to TALKING TO ME! I lost it, and the side eye I gave to my surroundings would have you thinking I had a conspiratorial podcast on repeat.

While I initially thought I was right in doing an ‘early return’, I’m glad I was wrong. Give it a listen.

Thanks, Kiersten. And yes, Saturdays are fun.