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 There is no plot, inasmuch as life doesn't have a plot. But readers will meander as Monroe, whose life seems unhinged by his own mistakes and lack of ambition, tries to find his way back into the life he once lived with his wife and son.
Reviewed by Elizabeth King Humphrey
A Listening Thing
by William Michaelian
Paperback: 163 pages
Creative Arts Book Company (November, 2003)
IBN: 0887394701, www.williammichaelian.com
When reading A Listening Thing, a reader gets caught up in Stephen Monroe's thoughts. One is transported into the world of a self-proclaimed loser who spends his time eking out a living as a typesetter. There is no plot, inasmuch as life doesn't have a plot. But readers will meander as Monroe, whose life seems unhinged by his own mistakes and lack of ambition, tries to find his way back into the life he once lived with his wife and son. It is Monroe's direction and confusion that resonates. Monroe is an endearing character; one wants to dislike him because he seems to lack direction or focus, but along the way one finds he has some redeeming qualities.
William Michaelian, by using first-person, immediately brings the reader into Monroe's world. The reader is introduced into the confusing world of this loser. There is such a humanness to Monroe, as he spends his time arguing with himself. And he introduces us to characters that we feel obligated to laugh at, as Monroe does, or to look below the surface, because Monroe does. Take his view of his apartment neighbor, Ernie: "When the world looks at Ernest Taylor, it sees a seedy guy with a scraggly gray beard, wearing a sweat-stained baseball cap....It sees a guy who is going nowhere, and has no prospects. It sees these things because that's what it wants to see....What it misses is a man who is extremely well-read with a keen sense of humor. But, labels are easy. Slap a label on something or someone, then it becomes unnecessary to think. Thinking is work."
There are some soul-searching passages as Monroe struggles through the loneliness he has felt since the death of his father and his careless divorce. Monroe's voice is sincere, so the reader is able to trust his meanderings, no matter how confused he seems. He also seems fully willing to take the blame for the direction of his life, although Monroe sometimes seems caught by surprise that the path he tread took him where it did.
I either care too much, or too little. I don't know how to reconcile what I see with what I feel, or how to devise a sensible way of living. I simply go along from day to day, trying to weather the storm. I'm not arrogant to think I'm right, and I'm not insecure enough to think I'm wrong....I want to start over. I want to forget everything I know....
While many might find the internal musings tiring, Monroe has a sense of humor and is a keen observer. The read is pleasantly surprising. This is William Michaelian's first novel which was to be released by a publisher in 2003. Michaelian has since published it on his Web site (www.williammichaelian.com) and some review copies are for sale on other Web sites. Michaelian has a collection of short stories and other writings available on his Web site. And his second book, The Smiling Eyes of Children, also ready to be read.
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