VULNERABILIA
by James Palazzolo
A downtrodden man must unravel the meaning behind a sudden series of calamities in Palazzolo’s novella.
This adventurous story chronicles the life of Melvin Terocera, an aging Gudgeon Recordings talent representative whose life is unexpectedly upended by a mysterious home invasion. Melvin’s existence was consistently exciting during his 20s and 30s as the drummer for Bad Sex, a band who had a hit single, “Love Oven,” and a female lead singer who’d pretend to roast herself over a grill on stage. Then, in his 40s, as his “arrested development ended,” Melvin became an audio engineer and got engaged to narcissistic Joseph Vidova, who abruptly abandoned him and their marriage plans. In the present, police fail to detect any evidence of theft or property damage after the break-in, and Melvin notices only that his televisions have been unplugged. Before long, he’s sideswiped by a speeding car in his apartment building’s parking lot, and after a three-day hospital coma, he’s reunited with Joseph and meets a group of policemen who believe the car’s driver was a mentally ill Humphrey Bogart lookalike named Xavier Hibbert—most likely the same man who broke into his apartment. Traumatized, in a wheelchair, and paranoid about his personal safety, Melvin obsesses over his apparent need for survival training while trying to forgive an apologetic Joseph, who wants to move forward, away from past mistakes. Later, he gets involved with a ragtag gang of beginner survivalists, with whom he navigates Appalachian forest terrain and melodramatic infighting. He emerges from this experience exhausted and confronted with another surprise, courtesy of his elderly neighbor, Mr. Acciom. The final section propels the narrative ahead a half-decade to find Melvin fearing for his life once again as the world around him continues to unravel.
Palazzolo’s brief, three-part tale whips through the narrative at a speedy pace with plentiful plot twists and disastrous episodes at every turn. The pitch-perfect descriptions (a television set’s plug is said to have “two metal prongs staring back like viper fangs”) also add to the fun. The author provides an impressive amount of backstory regarding eccentric peripheral characters, such as Melvin’s brother Todd, who becomes a bulwark against the tyrannies of Melvin’s everyday life, and Joseph, who mostly serves as an irritant. Melvin’s tale is thrilling to follow; when he’s working as a record-label employee, the tale introduces unique musicians such as Violenza “Vee” Domestica, a rocker who “had a face attesting to the life of a mutant rock star” and a vibrant personality that makes multiple appearances throughout the novel. Melvin embraces his adventuresome yet disastrous life as it is, which is one of the most powerful aspects of this inventive novel. Readers will root for him in whatever situation he’s in; after all, as the narrator notes, “no one perceived him as hopeless, just hapless.” Indeed, the situations are so outrageous and farfetched, it becomes a vicarious pleasure just to see what happens next—and a truly enjoyable reading experience.An offbeat, effortlessly wild, and tightly woven story of an oddball’s life in flux.