How many issues can you deal with in 230 pages? That seems to be the question pop-culture essayist, Chuck Klosterman, is trying to answer with his second attempt at fiction. The Visible Man is crammed full of probing questions on how our society views itself and those of us that encapsulate it. What is reality? Is someone watching me and to what extent? What role does psychoanalysis play in my life? Can science be trusted? Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? What is loneliness and what role does it play in my life? What does it mean to be in a relationship? Klosterman seems to leave no rock unturned in this quick read about a therapist and her rather strange client.
It a slight departure from what his fans are used to reading stylistically, Klosterman has written a book that feels more like something you would expect from Chuck Palahniuk, without the typical Palahniuk graphic details and colorful language, while still finding a way to include the pop-culture philosophy that we have grown to love him for. The Visible Man is a dark book that treads on heavy ground, yet is able to find a good laugh and moments of lightness. The main character, a "scientist" who has developed a suit that makes him "unseen" that he uses to spy on people when they are alone, has no problem switching from a description on how he caused a girl to overdose on cocaine and speed to hypothesizing that people listen to the Beatles so much because they are told they are supposed to like them. It's equal parts social commentary, pop-culture commentary and entertaining thriller.
I'm not sure we ever get any answers to the questions posed, Klosterman's work has always been more about the asking then the answering, but that doesn't hurt the journey at all. Klosterman is trying to turn a mirror to a society that, much like his main character, has a problem seeing itself for what it really is. There doesn't need to be concrete answers, but there should be some self-evaluation.
If all this seems like a heavy handed evaluation of a piece of fiction by a pop-culture observer, then ignore everything I've written and know that The Visible Man is an enjoyable quick read about a man who can make himself invisible and the problems that power can cause. It really is as much a psycho-thriller as it is a commentary on society. And in that way, Klosterman has crafted an amazing book that is a must read.
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