The core idea of the novel was powerful enough to keep me reading, even if at times with a measure of impatience, but somewhere in the second half of the novel I was hooked. Suddenly I was engaged. I was involved, not just intellectually, the novel's initial appeal, with the idea of it, but emotionally. I wanted to be there for them, not only as a fly on the wall, but as a friend. I wanted them to work things out, to learn to accept each other for who they truly were. I wanted to see them grow and be happy.
First Person Plural is definitely not your campy, gay beach novel. It may not have the lyrical prose of a Salman Rushdie or Hanif Kureishi novel, nor the poetic language of a Michael Ondaatje or Anne Michaels novel. But these, while wonderful in their works, are not always necessary. Beierle's simple, concise, straight-forward prose is effective. First Person Plural, to be released on August 28th, 2007, should find its place on the bookshelf alongside other serious works of literary fiction.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!
2 - Frank Riela
My partner and I recently read "First Person Plural" by Andrew Beierle. We had picked it up in a bookstore on a recent trip to Palm Springs, California, where we were visiting friends. I thought it would be light "airplane reading", perfect for the trip back home (to Italy). What I found in reading it was instead a study on one's sense of identity and and the feeling of "otherness" experienced by many minorities. Beierle never made me feel I was reading about "freaks". I never found myself thinking of Owen (the narrator) and Porter (his brother) as anything other than two young guys in a unique situation finding their way in the world, in life and in love, in the way that we all do. I couldn't help but think that we are all "other" in some sense, and most of us struggle with identity along the way too. Perhaps the only difference between Ownen and Porter and ourselves, is that our "otherness" is beneath, as opposed to on, the surface. I highly recommend this excellent novel.