It’s been a long time since I’ve read a fiction book. I’ve started plenty of them, but, in fact, the last one I remember actually finishing was William Gibson’s Neuromancer in college. Sixteen years ago.
That I would finish this one says two things: It’s good, and it’s an easy read. A Simple Machine, Like the Lever is by Evan P.Schneider, the man behind the Boneshaker Almanac. Like most art films, it ambles through the day to day in a stream of consciousness musing from inside the head of the protagonist, Nick. Unlike some art films, that’s a good thing for this story.
It’s filled with a solid mix of humor and witty insights that seem like perhaps they’re over the head of Nick while being smack dab in front of him. More than anything, it puts things -daily, random, all-too-often-unnoticed things- in plain sight and coats them with new perspectives. More than once I imagined people I know in the story, and more than once Nick’s account of what it’s like to ride a bike had me nodding slowly as if to say uh-huh.
Sweetie read it, too, and enjoyed it. I, we, highly recommend it. It actually has me seeking out more fiction, which says a lot (to me, anyway). Available on Amazon for $14.
