What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges"I hope that people can see their fellow human beings, all beings, with more empathy, more compassion, with a desire to understand. Also if they can't know why people are the way they are, understand that they're probably the way they are for a good reason." said Peter Hedges, author of the book What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and the book helped him make that wish come true. Gilbert Grape, a 24 year old GenXer, lives in Endora, a small dying town where life is "like dancing" no music. ¡± He works in a grocery store, whose business is threatened by the newly opened supermarket. Gilbert's mother, once the town's sweetheart, hasn't stopped eating since her husband hanged himself in the basement, and the floor under the TV chair threatens to collapse. Her older sister Amy still mourns Elvis' death and the fact that her boyfriend left her. Ellen, his younger sister who is passionate about makeup and boys, argues incessantly with him. The biggest event on the horizon for all the Grapes is the eighteenth birthday of Gilbert's retarded younger brother, Arnie, who is a living miracle just for having survived this long. When everything in Endora is devouring Gilbert Grape and all he thinks about is leaving, Becky, a beautiful and worldly girl, bikes across town, helping him have a new vision of his family and himself. There is no specific plot for this novel, although many conflicts arise. What makes it so good is the interaction between the characters and the unique language style. The family and characters of What's Eating Gilbert Grape might be strange, but they seem like real characters with real emotions, because the author manages to give each of them a vivid representation.