#38 The Visible Man Chuck Klosterman

Jacket Copy: 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 Mantouches 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.

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On balance, I’m not really sure how I feel about this book. Although I enjoyed it more than Downtown Owl, I still found it lacking in literary value. I certainly found it interesting and relevant, but I also could see how many people would find it boring and difficult to relate to. Its target audience is rather narrow; for the second novel of someone who’s trying to break out into the fiction business, it simply does not have a broad enough appeal. People interested in abnormal psychology will find it highly engaging, but others will likely find themselves confused and unimpressed with the scope of the novel. I wasn’t able to really take anything away from this book, other than the enjoyment of the entertainment reading it provided. There were no universal statements about humanity or major themes, at least not any that were immediately obvious. The characters, despite being the main focus of this book, still seemed flat and not developed enough. I can not picture either character existing in real life; they were not portrayed in a realistic enough fashion to make this possible.