I don't know what I enjoyed more, the actual story of these fascinating characters, or the sheer beauty of the language. I quickly came to know and care about all the people here: Frank, whose dwarfism makes him ugly in his own and others' eyes; Bernadette, his mother; and all the others who revolve around them like planets around the stars.Perhaps it does getsa bit too philosophical at times, and probably should have been about 50-100 pages shorter to avoid the continued reiteration of the theme, but when the writing is so alluring, how can I carp about length?