Sunday, July 22, 2018

Any Man

Any Man by Amber Tamblyn (2018) 272 pages

This novel is structured around the lives of a number of men who have been sexually assaulted by an unknown woman rapist. The accounts of all their horrific, yet different experiences are related almost poetically. For each, I felt that I was inside their minds as they dealt with the aftermath: their physical pain, their mental anguish, and the second-guessing, as well as the harsh assessments and terrible jokes at their expense as these serial attacks became known to the public. I felt very protective of these male characters, and was very vested in watching them try to move forward, often with their lives intersecting in some manner.

I read this book because a library patron could not just leave the book on the counter to be checked back in after she read it. She needed to tell me how profoundly affected she was by this work. She said she couldn't really describe the story, instead flipping the pages toward me to show all the white space, saying the author had been primarily known for her poetry until now. I am grateful for this introduction to this powerful novel.

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