Show Up, Look Good

Read from Wednesday, September 28th to Thursday, September 29th.

I read Show Up, Look Good, by Mark Wisniewski, while at the same time reading Infinite Jest. However, there is an interesting story behind the reading of this novel.  Last week or so, I joined the Rumpus Book Club, an online group that sends you a book each month that has yet to be released.  You read the book, and at the end of the month, get to participate in an online discussion with the author.  Last night was the discussion, so I hurriedly read the book I had just received in the mail.  Luckily, it was a quick read and less than 200 pages, so I finished in plenty of time.  The discussion was very interesting, and offered Mark's point of view on the events that transpired, and I realized some things I missed, some themes that were overlooked.  Mark was very defensive of his work, as any author might be, and he came out responding to criticism about the structure of the story, and claimed that many reviewers didn't get it, or couldn't understand the subtext.  At that point, things became uncomfortable in the discussion, as it was unclear whether or not Mark was including us in that group.

Anyway, SULG is the story about an unreliable narrator Michelle, who runs away to NYC in the late 90's after she caught her boyfriend in a plastic vagina.  In the very opening paragraph, Michelle says she witnessed a secret murder, and the events of the book lead up to that moment.  However, the tone is very light-hearted at first, as Michelle navigates the many eccentrics of New York.  One by one, bad things happen to Michelle, as she learns more and more about herself, and you can recognize (or at least Mark hopes you can) the clouds building on the horizon.  Michelle finds an apartment with an old woman, and her one requirement for the deal on the rent is that Michelle bathe her each night before bed.  Michelle struggles with money, and she scalps Letterman tickets on the street to get by.  However, that apartment burns down right after Michelle befriends Ernest, a retired Yankee who can't talk cause of cancer.  She finds a place with a snobby MFA at NYU wannabe writer Sarah, who has writing workshops that boil down to mean-spirited gossip.  Michelle gets busted by the Letterman crew, then meets an old couple from Queens, Frank and Francine, but they offend Sarah and Michelle gets kicked out again. 

She stays with Frank and Francine for a night, but they imply they want a threesome with her, so she gets freaked out and finds her own run-down studio apartment.  Michelle tries to get a painting/drawing career on track, but it is doomed from the start, so she works in a supermarket under a sadistic, greedy boss.  Once she gets caught stealing old coins from the drawer, Michelle is fired, and ready to move back to Illinois, when she runs into Ernest on the street.  Ernest offers Michelle an apartment for free, all she has to do is leave for a few hours each afternoon so johns can bring prostitutes back.  Michelle is uncomfortable, but she allows it to happen, in order to live in New York.  At this point, things get dark, as she witnesses a girl being dragged away rolled up in a comforter by Ernest.  This coincides with the events of 9/11.  This is also where things get tricky to follow, as it turns out Michelle had been working at the same seedy nightclub as the murdered girl, a fact that she initially hid from the reader.  In order to escape from the mob, she must finally leave New York.

A city that initially seemed so promising and full of hope eventually became the home of all her nightmares.  She wanted to keep staying to prove to the people of her hometown that she could make it, but at what cost?  The issue/theme Mark wanted to highlight was Michelle's denial, which became more apparent as things progressed.  Her mother died in childbirth, and her father always secretly resented her for that, and Michelle gradually came to acceptance of this toward the end of the novel.  However, the mother isn't brought up as a theme until the supermarket chapter, close to the end.  9/11 coincides with the murder because both events people should have seen coming.  There were clues throughout, according to Mark (although many readers disagree), and Michelle knowingly withholds certain information until the very end.  There the issue of an unreliable narrator comes up.  Does the unreliability work if the narrator simply does not share things with the reader?  How is the reader supposed to know?

SULG is a very funny novel for the first three quarters, and then the end is dark and does keep you thinking.  The funnier parts remind me of The Extra Man, which I recently read.  Mark does a good job at parts describing the artistic process, a fact I mentioned to him in the conversation.  The ending is and will be difficult for many readers when it is released next month, and I can see how it works, especially after the conversation I was privileged to attend.  Three out of five stars.

(By the way, I hope you can tell how giddy I am to be able to post a review before the book is released, it makes me feel like a real critic!  Like I actually get to do this for a living!)