“You Are Not A Stranger Here’ by Adam Haslett

It never quite lifts off the field of the common.

The reason why I picked up a copy of "You Are Not A Stranger Here" by Adam Haslett was because I stumbled on an article recently claiming Jonathan Franzen praised the author. Unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed.

The book is a compilation of short stories, most of which involve a man or woman in need of some sort of medical assistance (a 70+ year old Alzheimer’s patient, a severely depressed homosexual – actually there are two stories of this kind, a Schizophrenic woman, a doctor who’s treating a patient). The connotation of the stories borders on the bizarre, but it never quite crosses the border between unusual and exceptional. I attributed this to the fact that the author is making his debut with this book and does not want to overly expose the narrative, so instead he cautiously treads.

My recommendation is as follows: If you can find this book in a library, take a look at it, you may find something spiritually helpful. If you are thinking about spending some money on a book go for “The Body Artist” or “How To Be Alone” instead.

- by Simon Cleveland