manuscript review by Publishers Weekly, an independent organization
Shortly before a Chicago Christmas in 1999, a graduate student named Jamie witnesses a fatal car accident involving a U-Haul. He goes home and discovers that not only has his fiancee Robin left him and taken most of the furniture, but that she and her new lover were the victims in that accident. Although this darkly comic novel doesn't maintain quite that level of oddness throughout, it does have its share of moments. Seven months later, Jamie is depressed, avoiding his friends, and unable to successfully commit suicide (trying to hang himself, his ceiling fan comes crashing down). Cajoled by his boss/father figure Mr. Riley and his high school friend Todd , he agrees to go to his tenth high school reunion, where he encounters Emma, whom Jamie still blames for the death of his best friend, Nate. Although the second half of the novel suffers from being overly sentimental, Jamie's quirkiness (he has a superstition about reading any copy of a book twice, and thus has owned 41 copies of Camus's "The Stranger"), as well as the author's sharp ear for dialogue, keeps things lively.
Amazon Top Reviewer
This story has an interesting start. Jamie is distraught when he witnesses a fatal truck accident that he thinks he might have contributed to. When he returns home, he finds that his home has been robbed, but then discovers that his fiance has left him, taking much of their stuff with her, and that she was one of the fatalities from the truck. It would be interesting to see how a man would deal with this much heartache all at once, and I'd imagine the rest of the novel will deal with him unraveling what happened in his relationship and figuring out what direction his life should take from here. This has the potential to be a compelling character study. Jamie struck me as a bit dim, though. When he returns home and sees he has been robbed, he doesn't really do anything except leave a message for his fiance and then talk to his boss. Wasn't he worried someone might still be in his apartment? Why wouldn't he call the police? I also didn't think it was realistic that Jamie wouldn't realize that his fiance was ready to leave him. There must have been something seriously wrong in his relationship. How could he not know that? The story of the aftermath of these tragic events might be an interesting one, provided that Jamie turns into a more realistic character.
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