A strange but ultimately beguiling account of the life and times of mankind’s oddest companion.
A supernatural being searches for meaning in the human world in this novel by LaTorre.
As this story begins, an amorphous, inhuman being called the Rauschmonstrum has existed about as long as humanity has been on Earth—but all that time, he’s felt truly alone. There’s no other entity like him, and he suffers from a profound lack of purpose and direction. For this reason—and for the sake of “a few chuckles” on his part—the Rauschmonstrum decides to intervene in human history in order to make some kind of mark. Humans want guidance, he observes, and a moral code set in stone; the Rauschmonstrum is aware that there is no God and, as a result, humanity lacks a “divine master.” He volunteers himself for the job, and he quickly decides to inspire a human from Nazareth named Jesus to live a morally exemplary life and lay out a moral framework for humankind. Much to the Rauschmonstrum’s surprise, Jesus is not in on the “absurd joke that has been played on him,” up to and including the crucifixion. The monstrous protagonist then decides to turn Jesus’ death to his advantage, using his vast powers to convince people of Jesus’ resurrection (“If I do this, then the myths about him will never die,” he thinks. “Nothing is bigger than coming back from the dead”). The Rauschmonstrum later becomes a strange kind of media star—living through the centuries and interacting with humans as a well-known but otherworldly celebrity.
In the first of the novel’s three sections, readers follow the Rauschmonstrum as he shadows Jesus during the key moments of the Gospels, offering an effective, cynical counterpoint to well-known events. In the second and most entertaining section, “Interviews with the Rauschmonstrum,” readers follow the “shapeshifting monster” onto the stages of a number of well-known talk shows; he joins William F. Buckley on the set of Firing Line (“Based on your writing,” Buckley says, “it’s obvious to me you are…a creature of the left”), trades quips with Dick Cavett, and talks about books with Charlie Rose (who tells him that Christopher Hitchens is not the Rauschmonstrum’s biggest fan) He also hits The Tonight Show stage multiple times. Throughout this section, LaTorre very cleverly unfolds the alternate reality that ticks along in the background of his book; at one point, for instance, Norman Mailer becomes the president of the United States. Overall, the author makes the Rauschmonstrum’s reflections on the changing nature of American society even more amusing and thought-provoking than his observations on key moments of the New Testament. The book’s most intriguing element, however, is its complete lack of moralizing about the Rauschmonstrum himself, whom it simply presents as a flat fact of existence—and a surprisingly likable one, at that. The book’s third section, which is essentially one long encounter between the Rauschmonstrum and Jesus, is the most strained, but the book’s overall cheery tone remains consistent throughout.
A strange but ultimately beguiling account of the life and times of mankind’s oddest companion.Pub Date: Dec. 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73443-350-0
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Nick Daydreams
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An impressive literary balancing act that entertains as it enriches.
A hefty political page-turner about what it means to have money and how we fall in love with it.
Tarkington begins his pungent political drama with an epigraph from Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, announcing his lofty intentions before the novel proper has even begun. By turns sprawling and intimate, the book looks at the blessing and curse of Southern noblesse oblige through the eyes of those who have and those who don’t. Arch Creigh got his leg up from a new-money uncle, and he sees his future in the realm of Republican politics in his native Nashville. His boyhood friend, also the story’s narrator, is Charlie Boykin, a conscientious poor kid with a young, pretty mom and only a few scruples about accepting a helping hand. Tarkington is a gifted storyteller, largely because he knows how to let his finely developed characters do the heavy lifting. Money isn’t all that separates the novel’s nouveau riche from its reluctant strivers. There’s also the matter of idealism, always an iffy prospect in politics; and authenticity, which grows elusive as fine living and friends in high places seduce and destroy what lies in their paths. Charlie, who didn’t grow up with money, essentially falls in love with what and whom it represents, including Arch’s wife, Vanessa. Tarkington weaves in some scandal—an affair, an abortion, and enough secrets to keep readers guessing. But he’s not just prompting the next page turn. The novel is concerned with what lies beneath both the best intentions and worst impulses. There’s a tantalizingly thin line between love and desire here. Mistaking one for the other is easy. It’s also catastrophic.
An impressive literary balancing act that entertains as it enriches.Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-61620-680-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
More style than substance.
Michaelides takes a literary turn in his latest novel, employing an unreliable narrator, the structure of classical drama, and a self-conscious eye to dismantling the locked-room mystery.
The novel starts off with a murder, and with seven people trapped on an isolated Greek island lashed by a "wild, unpredictable Greek wind." The narrator, soon established as Elliot Chase, then zooms out to address the reader directly, introducing the players—most importantly movie star Lana Farrar. We meet her husband, Jason Miller, her son, Leo, and her friend Kate Crosby, a theater actress. We learn about her rise to fame and her older first husband, Otto Krantz, a Hollywood producer. We learn about Kate’s possibly stalling career and Leo’s plan to apply to acting schools against his mother’s wishes. We learn about Jason’s obsession with guns. And in fragments and shards, we learn about Elliot: his painful childhood; his May–September relationship with an older female writer, now dead; his passion for the theater, where he learned “to change everything about [himself]” to fit in. Though he isn't present in every scene, he conveys each piece of the story leading up to the murder as if he were an omniscient narrator, capable of accessing every character's interior perspective. When he gets to the climax, there is, indeed, a shooting. There is, indeed, a motive. And there is, of course, a twist. The atmosphere of the novel, set mostly on this wild Greek island, echoes strongly the classical tragedies of Greece. The characters are types. The emotions are operatic. And the tragedy, of course, leads us to question the idea of fate. Michaelides seems also to be dipping into the world of Edgar Allan Poe, offering an unreliable narrator who feels more like a literary exercise. As an exploration of genre, it’s really quite fascinating. As a thriller, it’s not particularly surprising.
More style than substance.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781250758989
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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