August 27, 2012
Van der Vliet Oloomiâs debut novel turns out to be a surrealist triumph despite a jerky entry into the narratorâs world. An unnamed man purchases a house with one thought in mindâto investigate the death of its former owner, Fra Keeler. Upon moving in, however, his investigation becomes hindered by his own tangled thoughts. A clearly unreliable narrator, the character nonetheless draws the reader deeper into his mental labyrinth, as snippets of a possible truth shine through as from a blinding streak of lightning on a dark night. Lurching toward an understanding of Fra Keelerâs death, the protagonist wrestles with issues of sanity, madness, life, death, and happiness. This short but substantial novel both celebrates the process of thinking and offers cautions about the perils of our inner monologues. A rare gem of a book that begs to be read again. Agent: Kate Johnson, Georges Borchardt, Inc.
October 1, 2012
Until the very end, nothing much happens in this slight novel about an unnamed narrator who moves into the house of his friend, Fra Keeler, to investigate Keeler's death. The narrator is, at best, distracted and unable to focus. The appearance of the mailman outside is one of several events that absorb his attention obsessively and, at times, amusingly. He is drawn to a structure in the backyard, becomes fascinated by trees, stares at his neighbor. He's childlike in some ways, but he's also annoyingly unlikable, and he doesn't answer any of the questions readers will inevitably have. As the story proceeds, the narrator becomes less and less connected to reality and seems increasingly malevolent, until the novel erupts into violence and action. VERDICT The conclusion is terrific, but the rest of the novel requires a patient reader sufficiently interested in the slow unraveling of a human mind not to mind the absence of traditional storytelling. Recommended for those who enjoy experimental fiction by the likes of Alain Robbe-Grillet and for fans of psychological fiction by writers such as Edgar Allan Poe.--Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC
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