The first novel I read about the art of writing was John Irving’s The World According to Garp. One of its most delightful features was Garp’s publisher, who decided which books to accept by trying them out on his cleaning lady.
In No Two Persons, Erica Bauermeister takes this idea a step further. She focuses not only on the novel’s writer, but on its readers and how it affects their lives.
Alice Wein is an introverted young woman who wants to be a writer but doesn’t know how to begin until a family tragedy plants an idea in her head. Her experience is one familiar to all aspiring writers: the otherworldliness of the creative process, the fragile hope of success, and the despair of rejection.
From that comes an interesting series of readers including Lara, who works at home as a literary assistant; Rowan, a handsome movie star with a medical condition that forces him into a new career; Miranda, a junk sculptor; Tyler, whose obsession with diving gives him refuge from a traumatic childhood; and Nola, a high school girl living secretly in a gardener’s shed. Alice’s novel speaks to these and other characters in ways that are unique to them. The readers are the stars. The book is in the margins.
Bauermeister writes well. She sketches her characters in breezy strokes in a way that makes what we don’t know about them as interesting as what we do know. Regrettably, she has spoiled her work as John Irving spoiled his, with offensive language and sexual escapades that contribute nothing worthwhile to the narrative. For that reason, I must limit my rating to three stars.
Follow these links for more about the Chevron Ross novels
Weapons of Remorse The Seven-Day Resurrection The Samaritan’s Patient
