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At its
simplest, The Book of Other People is a collection
of mostly light reading by a motley crew of prominent authors
contributing their work pro bono for the benefit of the Dave
Eggers brainchild, 826 New York, a non-profit writing lab
for students 18 and under. As editor, On Beauty author
Zadie Smith sets forth one overarching rule: that the titles
of each story bear the name of an original character and for
that character to be the principle subject of the story that
follows.
The standouts
are clear. Edwidge Danticat delivers a somber story in "Léle"
of a young woman who, upon discovering that the child she
is carrying has a serious birth defect, moves back into her
childhood home because she is convinced that her trouble is
essentially due to growing up and leaving home. Danticat puts
her signature brand of prose on the delicate story and into
the minutiae of the actual village of Léogâne
in Haiti. Similarly, Colm Tóibín's "Donal Webster"
seems to carry the weight of the entire collection in its
few pages as the narrator recounts the sixth anniversary of
his mother's death in the form of an absorbing monologue to
a previous lover. At one point, Tóibín's Webster
recalls, "I could feel that this going home to my mother's
bedside would not be simple, that some of our loves and attachments
are elemental and beyond our choosing, and for that very reason
they come spiced with pain and regret and need and hollowness
and a feeling as close to anger as I will ever be able to
manage."
While
Danticat and Tóibín clearly set the bar, Other
People doesn't completely rely on their more serious leanings
to make up for the rest. Miranda July delivers the comedic
"Roy Spivey," a story about a famous actor who flirts with
his seatmate on a lengthy plane trip. A story by any other
author might get lost in the awkward moments she is prone
to depict, but July has a talent for making her characters
as endearing as they are uncomfortable. Comparably, Jonathan
Lethem reveals the unconventional friendship between a former
child actor and an eccentric critic in the comical "Perkus
Tooth"—hands down the most unconventional and enjoyable
character.
Unfortunately,
a few of the more expectedly exciting contributions ran a
little stale. Nick Hornby's "J. Johnson" reads as a series
of evolving author's blurbs, and though the style and basic
idea are somewhat interesting, it comes off as a disappointing
effort to fulfill the basics of the restrictions—maybe
just an overall disappointment, considering it was originally
published in The Guardian in 2005. Similarly, Chris
Ware, one of two featured graphic artists, turns in the less-than-logical
"Jordan Wellington Lint," a series depicting the early adolescence
of a particularly temperamental boy. Not to be left out, Aleksander
Hemon provides the almost-gimmicky "The Liar," wherein he
reinvents (to an extent) the persecution of Jesus Christ with
his own character proclaiming, "I am the son of God" and later
hoping that "the voices in his head have told him the truth."
Instead of being provocative, Hemon's might-be rehash comes
off as predictable and a little unoriginal, defeating Smith's
seemingly easy guideline.
For a
time, especially in the book's first half, it is decidedly
easy to feel that the authors, in this case, are more important
than the work they contributed. It would be difficult to find
a better pool of writers than those assembled in The Book
of Other People, most having already made their mark in
literary pop culture and from whom any new work is an exciting
read. Sadly, most, if not all, of the stories weren't written
for this book and the collection regrettably falls in line
with most anthologies—hit or stinging miss. Contributions
from David Mitchell, Heidi Julavitz, Daniel Clowes, and Jonathan
Safran Foer, among others, help give the book substance where
others left a generous donation of notoriety instead of a
sincere literary effort. However, the book is for a good cause,
and even a few duds don't ruin the whole set.
(February,
2008)
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