Customer Reviews

Self Storage: A Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Gayle Brandeis, winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction in Support of a Literature of Social Change (THE BOOK OF DEAD BIRDS), has penned another novel that is both engaging as a story and timely in subject matter. In it, she expertly flings a cartload of characters searching for love, security and identity into a melting pot infused with political upheaval, fear and post-9/11 muck. The result is a book that is both chaotic and solid, frightening and incredibly touching.

Aptly titled SELF STORAGE, the narrative focuses on the business of the self and how we as humans store the "stuff" that makes up both our inner core and our external appearance, using Walt Whitman's gorgeous LEAVES OF GRASS/"Song of Myself" as its guide. All the main characters struggle valiantly with this process --- some successful, others not --- in order to define what of themselves is private and what can be shared openly with others. The book also addresses identity on a larger scale, and confronts both how we relate to others in our surrounding communities and how we receive and are perceived in the world. Given that the story takes place in our contemporary, war-torn world, the white characters have a much more carefree, privileged outlook on life and its prospects, while the Arabs are relegated to prejudicial treatment, confinement and secrecy.

In brief, SELF STORAGE is a post-gloom-and-doom/pre-sorted out tale of two families thrown together just months after the Twin Towers' demise. Twenty-eight-year-old Flan (Flannery) Parker, her husband (Shae) and two young children (Nori and Noodle) are barely scraping by in their shoddy university housing complex in Riverside, California. Flan makes her living buying booty from auctions and unclaimed storage units and reselling it on eBay or at garage sales, while Shae fumbles away at his hopelessly pretentious dissertation ("Hands on the Joystick: Televisual Abstractionism and the Postnarrative Origins of Virtual Selfhood"). The Parkers sleep together in one room, mattresses strewn across the floor --- a symbol, perhaps, of their slim grasp on security and lack of incentive to do anything about it (without any real consequences).

Meanwhile, their neighbors live an entirely different existence. Émigrés from Afghanistan, the Suleimans barely leave their house; when they do, they are shrouded in what seems like a veil of mystery --- most likely brought on by Mrs. Suleiman's (Sodaba's) burqa. They don't participate in the housing complex's dinner gatherings, rarely look any of their neighbors in the eye, and basically keep their strict traditions and their opinions to themselves for fear of persecution. But when a near-fatal accident occurs (Sodaba accidentally runs over Flan's youngest child, Nori), pitting Flan and Sodaba together on opposite sides of a near-homicide investigation, the two women (and their cultures) become connected in a way never thought possible.

At times, Flan's mission to "save" Sodaba from almost-definite deportation after the accident by driving her to a friend's house in the woods seems a bit too pie-in-the-sky. Some readers might question Flan's altruistic motives and her willingness to put her family on the line in order to save a virtual stranger (especially one who ran over her child), despite Brandeis's efforts to convince us otherwise. Nevertheless, this dilemma raises weighty questions about how far one might be willing to go to help another human being, despite his or her differences.

Above all, SELF STORAGE is an in-depth (if slightly scattered) study of persons displaced --- within themselves, with their neighbors and in the world at large --- and of their gallant efforts to find their way home. Brandeis's emphasis on Whitman's sentiments and the gorgeous selections from "Song of Myself" sprinkled throughout are a gift, and readers will delight in the pages of poetic excerpts included at the end.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

This novel did a good job of capturing the American climate in the post 9-11 world. The instant suspicions of the others living in the graduate housing due to their neighbors' obvious Afghan origins rang very true. It seems that after that tragic day merely being Arabic makes a person instantly suspect, much like merely being Japanese made people instantly suspect during World War II. Brandeis does a nice job of pointing out how quickly we resort to prejudice due to a sort of paranoia caused by a tragedy of such epic scale.

Some of the plotting, however, was a real stretch and some things were left rather unfinished. I would have liked to see more development of the relationship between the main character and her Afghani neighbor. I'm also not quite sure I bought the reconciliation between husband and wife at the end as it seems to me that their marital problems were far too deeply rooted for such swift resolution.

This book is a remarkable achievement. Brandeis's engaging, unassuming style drew me into what seemed at first to be a clever romantic comedy--and before I knew it, I was deeply involved with both the characters and the deeper moral issues she introduces in a convincing, personal way that never betrays the reality of the characters or setting. This is both a fascinating account of a woman's journey of self-discovery and an exploration of what it means to be American and, finally, human. It is inspiring and uplifting without being in the least sentimental--and it's great fun to read.

Aside from the "say yes" and the social commentaries that others are trying to make about Self Storage, I just found it to be a fun read. I didn't find it life changing, and I didn't want to run out and say "yes". It filled my afternoon. I liked the honesty of Flan's character, and was a bit puzzled by Shae's character, and wished I could have known more about her neighbor, and the ending left me a bit confused. But all in all, I love the writing and the quirkiness of the woman who found her treasures in Self Storage.

Unfortunately, I could not get past the fact that I couldn't understand or like the protagonist, Flan, and I found her husband devoid of redeeming characteristics during the first half of the book (although he still failed to come together for me). So many things about these characters did not seem to add up to persons I wanted to keep reading about, and they did not seem to grow in ways that I could believe.

For example, it disturbed me greatly that Flan and Shae/Shake were so eager to blame the neighbor for an accident that they were at least equally responsible for. Yet despite blaming the neighbor and continuing to harbor many racist notions toward her, Flan was willing to go so far out on a limb for her ... why? And why did Flan's interest in her father seem to completely disappear from the day she checked his website until the end of the book?

I vacillated between savoring Gayle Brandeis' prose, as I had while reading her first book (which I adored), and wanting to rush through it quickly so I could stop spending time with these annoying characters and marginal parents. I was intrigued by the peripheral characters and found myself at times wishing the book were about them. (However, here too I might have been asking myself why otherwise intelligent and upfront people did not bother to level with Flan.)

It pains me to share these impressions, because I am so taken with Gayle Brandeis' work and her talent for the most part. And even here, I loved the beautifully woven tale, amazing prose, and exploration of issues that resonate with the reader. I excitedly await her future work.

Self Storage is about self exploration and discovering what makes you say YES to life. The story is layered on deeply flawed characters who don't know where their source of joy is, and is movingly woven together with lines from Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself".

Gayle Brandeis' characters, and the world she has created, work their way through the book with purposeful discord that creates its own energy and draws the reader in. Sometimes feeling compassion for them, sometimes frustration, but always feeling them - and that makes these characters real.

This book is getting a lot of important coverage because it addresses racial discrimination, profiling, our hyper-security focused culture, and the need for people to realize we are all human beings and desperately need to move past our fear and discord and find what brings us all together and say YES to ourselves and the world we live in.

Self Storage is a delight to read, and I highly recommend it.

Gayle Brandeis is a rare contemporary American novelist. She loves her characters dearly, understands their fears and needs, but is just not content to limit them to their social circles, local communities and everyday concerns. At the same time, she gives them honest opportunities to transcend. This book is superb and her most urgent so far. With witty dialogue and graceful prose, she explores what it means to be an American, and to be secure in America, post 9/11, through the pursuits of Flan, a most unassuming and engaging hero in mufti, who finds herself on the frontline in her suburban neighbourhood. What makes Fran's story so subversive is that she alters your awareness and sense of possibility using a great deal of kindness.

Gayle Brandeis' novel, Self Storage, shares a similar quality to her first novel, The Book of Dead Birds, VISION...and that vision is conveyed through her characters and the stories on the page. This is a writer to read slowly and carefully, as you'd eat a delicious meal. I'd also recommend her craft book, Fruitflesh- which I recommend to my students at Antioch University, Los Angeles...Gayle was my student there, and from the first page I knew I'd be writing this review one day...BRAVA, Gayle...
Alma Luz VillanuevaSoft Chaos

Self Storage is a wonderful blend of soul searching, hot topic political issues, and colorful words. This novel contains true-to-life, maybe-it-could-happen events starting with Flan's search of what makes her say YES, to the treachrous expriences of motherhood, married life that is on the breaking point and its recovery, to the issue of 9/11. It is a novel, a book that was written to wisk you off into far off places, even if that place is just down the street (as I live in Riverside, CA, I was totally tickled by the setting), or that distant place inside your head.

Mrs. Brandeis writes beautifully, her words weaving a story, while laying out the aforementioned issues in a very neutral manner, letting the readers form their own opinions, letting them do their own soul searching, yet still having her own thoughts, her wisdom and knowledge weaved into the words letting you know exactly how she feels.

I recommend this book to EVERYone and I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.

Gayle Brandeis writes wonderful books, and this one is no exception. Her characters are real and quirky and honest, and her themes are always large. Self Storage is a novel of self-discovery, a perfect novel for the times, and I recommend it to all.