Fiction - The Textbook Man
 | Fiction Title: The Textbook Man Author: Paul Vincent Publisher: Meadow Books Web Page: meadowbooks.com Reviewed by:Lynn Peterson | View Bio |
Paul Vincent’s “The Textbook Man” is the most amazing and sick book you will ever read! Rob Ansell is a very self-conscious man who tries to do everything right, from the way he irons his clothing to the way he walks and deals with people. Rob describes his particular attitude towards conversation and life as follows: “…I tend not to offer much in the way of conversation. I try instead to match what people say. I pick up on subjects that might be of interest to them and mostly try to ask them questions. I try to be confident but not too domineering. I try to act with intelligence but not be academic. I take an interest in others but I don’t pry. In short I do everything as they tell you to do in the textbooks. I am a textbook man.” He puts all of his textbook principles into the pursuit of a woman he fancies named Lucy.
The beauty of the book and disturbing part is that you like Rob. You understand his motivations. In short, we’ve all been like Rob, too eager to please, too possessive, and too obsessed that we don’t even realize that we’ve crossed the line from simple curiosity, akin to asking friends about a person, to invasion of privacy when you realize you’ve read every last email in search of an interesting tidbit to perhaps endear yourself to the other person. And is this even so wrong in an age of such privacy-invading pieces of legislature as the Patriot Act in which it is okay for the government to read your email, in case you might be a terrorist? Is it then really so wrong to read another person’s email in hope of making a human connection in an increasingly disconnected, inhuman, and technology-driven world?
At its core, this book isn’t about privacy invasion; it’s just the first thing Vincent gives you by which you justify Rob’s behavior to yourself and think it’s understandable and even a bit reasonable. Soon, though, you find yourself justifying and understanding things that you would otherwise consider quite wrong. In that lies the beauty of this book. Vincent takes you to a dark place where even the most anti-social behavior seems perfectly reasonable. The more you understand and let Vincent’s characters into your world, the more insidious they become. After reading his book, you cannot do anything to get his characters out of your mind, short of scrubbing out your brain with a scrub brush.
I could not put this book down, as it led me down paths both sick and disturbing. It is so deliciously twisted. It is the kind of book that makes you just a little bit paranoid about those around you. Can I ever really be comfortable allowing my spouse to make me a cup of coffee ever again? Read this book, and you may never look at the people around you in the same way.