Relentlessly depressing but superbly composed story of a tragically lost soul.
A homeless man wanders the streets and beaches of Los Angeles in search of purpose in Seaward’s literary debut.
Eyan has no sense of time and can’t remember how long he’s been on the streets or even his age. He guesses 20, but he looks considerably older, primarily because he had his rotten teeth removed. Though initially alone, he eventually reunites with Marc, a friend from school who lives on Skid Row with “the professor,” a man who once taught at the University of Chicago. This leads Eyan to connect with Paul, another, more dangerous former schoolmate. Paul’s a criminal, often surrounded by his minions, who enlists Eyan as his drug mule since Eyan walks everywhere and, like other homeless in LA, is effectively “invisible.” Paul’s gang is likely responsible for the dead bodies that are periodically turning up, a string of homicides that local detectives don’t seem capable of stopping. Meanwhile, Eyan struggles with thoughts of death and family, and he always carries a notebook that he fills with words he wants to remember. He has sporadic, “shifting” memories, from his mother and his sister’s disappearance during his first and only year of high school to a girl he once knew who committed suicide. It certainly doesn’t help his erratic memories when detectives question Eyan regarding some of the murder victims and ask about the contents of his notebook. Ultimately, Eyan makes a decision that will forever change his life as well as others’.
With few moments or recollections of happiness, Eyan is the quintessential tortured soul. He’s entirely sympathetic and endearing and only grows more so as readers get to know him. Though the story plants itself in dark territory, it’s not devoid of hope; Eyan’s notebook is an especially potent indicator that he continually strives to understand those around him. Seaward’s narrative is smoothly nonlinear, lucidly depicting flashbacks and memories. And while Eyan’s perspective isn’t strictly reliable (he’s completely unaware of how much time passes), supporting characters are distinctive. Marc in particular shows a kindness toward the protagonist that speaks volumes; he’s one of the few people who doesn’t mock Eyan. The author writes in a plain prose steeped in metaphor. For example, Paul’s minions are “eyeless” because they perpetually don mirrored sunglasses that not only quash their identities, but constantly remind Eyan of his own identity when seeing his reflection. Despite parallels between the City of Angels and passages of Milton’s Paradise Lost, which the professor reads to Eyan, Seaward’s tale is sublimely understated. He, for one, often portrays LA as a realistically grim rather than overtly hellish landscape: “Eyan wanders up and down the boardless boardwalk until the crowds thin to the point of disappearing. It is late at night. He finds his special place. The tiny spot he can crawl into, pull his knees to his chin and place a thumb in a toothless mouth.”
Relentlessly depressing but superbly composed story of a tragically lost soul. (about the illustrations; acknowledgements; about the author)Pub Date: June 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-88984-431-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Porcupine's Quill
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Suspenseful, full of incident, and not obviously necessary.
Atwood goes back to Gilead.
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), consistently regarded as a masterpiece of 20th-century literature, has gained new attention in recent years with the success of the Hulu series as well as fresh appreciation from readers who feel like this story has new relevance in America’s current political climate. Atwood herself has spoken about how news headlines have made her dystopian fiction seem eerily plausible, and it’s not difficult to imagine her wanting to revisit Gilead as the TV show has sped past where her narrative ended. Like the novel that preceded it, this sequel is presented as found documents—first-person accounts of life inside a misogynistic theocracy from three informants. There is Agnes Jemima, a girl who rejects the marriage her family arranges for her but still has faith in God and Gilead. There’s Daisy, who learns on her 16th birthday that her whole life has been a lie. And there's Aunt Lydia, the woman responsible for turning women into Handmaids. This approach gives readers insight into different aspects of life inside and outside Gilead, but it also leads to a book that sometimes feels overstuffed. The Handmaid’s Tale combined exquisite lyricism with a powerful sense of urgency, as if a thoughtful, perceptive woman was racing against time to give witness to her experience. That narrator hinted at more than she said; Atwood seemed to trust readers to fill in the gaps. This dynamic created an atmosphere of intimacy. However curious we might be about Gilead and the resistance operating outside that country, what we learn here is that what Atwood left unsaid in the first novel generated more horror and outrage than explicit detail can. And the more we get to know Agnes, Daisy, and Aunt Lydia, the less convincing they become. It’s hard, of course, to compete with a beloved classic, so maybe the best way to read this new book is to forget about The Handmaid’s Tale and enjoy it as an artful feminist thriller.
Suspenseful, full of incident, and not obviously necessary.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-385-54378-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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