Pink Institution

The Pink Institution was probably the best or second best book I have read this semester. I enjoyed the non-traditional format of the novel, as well as just the story itself. What really interested me, however, was the complete objectivity of the narrator as she told the story of her family. I didn't realize until about halfway through the novel that the narrator was actually related to all of the people she was talking about, and when I finally found out, I was completely surprised and thrown off (in a good way).
There was so much trauma in the lives of all of the characters, but rather than tell the readers that the events were traumatic, painful, depressing, whatever, Saterstrom took a completely post-modern approach and allowed the reader to draw their own conclusions about the events. I really admired this about Saterstrom. My first ten-pager was somewhat loosely based off of my parents' relationship before my birth, and if I had the time, I may have reworked my story to have their child (Fiona) be the narrator. I think what happened between the couple (the mother bringing an STD home--which didn't happen in real life) would have been quite traumatizing for a young child, so it would have been interesting to see how I could report that story objectively.
The narrator in "P.I." even describes her eating disorder objectively, which is the most interesting thing to me. The disorder is clear evidence that everything that happened with her family was damaging to her, but she never once relates the two in the story. That job is left completely to the reader.
I am normally somewhat of a romantic, and I do enjoy romantic literature, so this kind of reading is a big departure for me. I do have to say though, that I will definitely seek out more work that is similar to this in the furture.