Am I Alone Here?
Writing about his family’s relations and his love of reading, Orner takes us through some of his favorite works of fiction in Am I Alone Here? to show how a small turn of phrase can illuminate an entire story. I was happy to see that we agreed on so many writers and that made me take seriously the ones I hadn’t read yet. I made a list: Bohumil Hrabal, John Edgar Wideman, William Maxwell, Angela Carter, Gina Berriault, Álvaro Mutis (his major work, Pedro Páramo, which I had heard of), Andre Dubus, Wright Morris, Lyonel Trouillot, Mavis Gallant, A.S. Byatt, and Elias Canetti. Lots to keep one busy over a summer or two.
My kind of book. Finished in two sittings.
The illustrations between each short chapter were done by the author’s brother, Eric Orner.
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