Saturday, October 15, 2011

"If somebody asked me, 'What is this book about?' and I know that I only have one sentence to tell them, I would say, 'Well, it's how it would be to be the invisible man's therapist.' But if I read a review that said that and simplified it down, I would be like, 'That's totally wrong!' It might bother me if someone else said it, but it doesn't bother me when I think it. " -- Chuck Klosterman in an interview with CNN


Austin, Texas, therapist Victoria Vick is contacted by a cryptic, unlikable man who insists his situation is unique and unfathomable. As he slowly reveals himself, Vick becomes convinced that he suffers from a complex set of delusions: Y__, as she refers to him, claims to be a scientist who has stolen cloaking technology from an aborted government project in order to render himself nearly invisible. He says he uses this ability to observe random individuals within their daily lives, usually when they are alone and vulnerable. Unsure of his motives or honesty, Vick becomes obsessed with her patient and the disclosure of his increasingly bizarre and disturbing tales. Over time, it threatens her career, her marriage, and her own identity.
Interspersed with notes, correspondence, and transcriptions that catalog a relationship based on curiosity and fear, The Visible Man touches on all of Chuck Klosterman’s favorite themes—the consequence of culture, the influence of media, the complexity of voyeurism, and the existential contradiction of normalcy. Is this comedy, criticism, or horror? Not even Y__ seems to know for sure.

And, just for giggles and to show what a good sport Klosterman is:

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