Customer Reviews

The EXTRA MAN

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Extra Man" is Ames' follow-up to his debut novel, "I Pass Like Night," which covers some of the same territory, but is not as detailed as this. Here, Louis Ives, a sexually confused school teacher, is fired from his job following a comic encounter with a female colleague's bra. Determined to start life anew, he moves to NYC into the claustrophobic, roach-infested sty of an apartment with Henry Harrison, a misanthropic elder who makes his way through life as a gentleman escort for woman in high society. While in New York, Louis succumbs to the temptations and mystique of transvestite hookers in seamy Times Square, all the while cultivating his relationship with Henry, who serves so very well as the father figure Louis has always craved. "The Extra Man" is eminently accessible, and filled with honest, frenetic, and ribald writing reminiscent of Philip Roth and Paul Rudnick. I've never read a novel quite like this.Throughout, I rooted for both Louis and Henry, who became, for me, the quintessentail post-modern "odd couple." "The Extra Man" is as touching as it is funny.

Boy am I glad I picked up "Extra Man" before anything else by Jonathan Ames. Struck by his work for the New York Press, I finally found this book secondhand and it's a classic! Ames has a very distinctive and winning voice and his New York is a perfect balance of charm, chaos and perversion. Unfortunately, Ames tends to recycle the best bits in his work, but what incredible bits! His great aunt should be bronzed and put in Central Park as an unforgettable New York character. She needs a book of her own, Jonathan!

Reading this brilliant novel, I can't help but thinking what a shame it is the author remains largely unknown. Part Fitzgerald/part Bukowski, Ames is a master of noticing 1st person male neuroses but and is as inventive with his characters and dialogue as any modern out there! Aone with a sense of humor needs to read this!!! Hysterically funny this is a book you'll read in one sitting, not because of simplistic style, but because it's that damn good!!! Oh, and you'll never look at a transexual the same way again.

Ames's The Extra Man is delightful, addictive, hilarious, and surprisingly touching. It made me laugh out loud again and again, and even left me teary-eyed once. Loius Ives is a character one can really feel for, while Henry Harrison is a figure one would love to meet, and the relationship between the two of them (and Ives's relationship to women and to himself) is interesting and moving. Ames pulls the whole thing off with nary a hitch; this is the kind of book one could easily read in a single sitting.

I can't say enough nice things about this novel. It's quirky, centered on two main characters - an eccentric couple of Upper East Side roommates - who really attach themselves to you. Read it slowly, because you'll miss them when you're done with the book.

I read this book because I read a review that made the character of Henry Harrison sound interesting. I was expecting descriptions of parties and dates with rich people that would fill me in on a side of society I don't have contact with. It was not like that at all, but instead it was very true-to-life in comparison with my own experiences of being in new places.

Ives' inner fancies of himself as the young gentleman are drawing him into an odd acquaintance with Henry Harrison. And Harrison is just exactly like some people I have known who try to live off of others' social status. There is something about the spacing of the episodes and the things that go unexplained or detailed that exactly mimics the feeling one gets when spending a lot of time in this half-world.

And, interestingly, more and more of Ives' secret "predilections" become exposed, and his sense of shame and fear. He is such a sensitive character, and actually so well-rounded, that I felt the injustice of his fear of following his sexual curiosities and desires.

The way the book unfolds is actually a mirror of how one comes to know better and better individual people. Also, for some reason, the descriptions of cars and parking arrangements in this book are exceptionally charming writing.

This is probably one of the funniest and most delightful books I have read all year. The characters are so well-written and developd, that they leap off the page immediately. Though the book is extremely funny at times, there is also poignancy throughout. When I was done reading the book, I wanted more. I only hope Mr. Ames keeps the character of Louis alive in, dare I say it, a sequal. A great read!

The Extra Man would send an extra line up Freud's nose...keep him up late enough to read it again...then do some rethinking!

"So I saw that strap dangling out of the bag like a snake and I was alarmed," Louis Ives, the protagonist, reports on the first page of the novel. He's at a day school in Princeton, on break in the teacher's lounge when he notices the strap, which turns out to be a colleague's brassiere. A combination of curiosity and something else in the character of Ives that can only be understood by reading the following pages, drives him to try it on and prance around. After all, he's alone for a while- but not long enough. The opening scene sends young Ives away from Princeton and into New York City- where he starts over, sharing a dingy apartment with Henry Harrison, a washed up old gent who adheres to a simple motto: "Through troubles and into more troubles." Harrison proves to be more eccentric than Ives, and the transvestite dives where he [Ives] feels most at home. The relationship between the two is hillarious and endearing. Through the eyes of Ives, it's often reminiscent of Higgins and Doolittle. Through Harrison, of Kafka and his father. The prose is honest and concise and doesn't allow pauses. I enjoyed The Extra Man so much that I gave it to my brother for Christmas, who usually prefers television to literature. He's suddenly changed his mind.

I had never read anything by Ames before picking up The Extra Man. I found the novel to be interesting, surprisingly graphic, and oddly touching. Unfortunately, it is also too long and repetitive.

The story of the relationship between Louis and Harry is unique and funny for awhile, but quickly gets bogged down by the repetition and the fact that Harry doesn't really do anything that the reader actually gets to see unless he is with Louis. Often, Ames relies on redundant dialogue and situations for Harry to be involved in while Louis has more interesting adventures.

Louis' sexual explorations and confusion actually turn out to be the most involving scenes in the novel, along with his relationship with his great aunt. While many of the scenes are more graphic than I had expected, they also are the most insightful. They will also be the most off-putting if that kind of thing bothers you.

Overall, an interesting read that is probably too long, but worth looking into.

The Extra Man is simply a great read, and a book that stays with you. I think it's because here Ames demonstrates beautifully his ability to mingle elements that might seem incongrous: readability and complexity; old world propriety and honest, intense sexuality; laugh-out-loud-humor and poignant depth. This book is a winner -- as is his other novel, Wake Up, Sir!