Look at Me

More raiding the back catalogue, this time from my fiction shelves. Jennifer Egan’s novel “Look at Me” was first published in 2001, and it’s amazingly prescient. It’s about a model who’s appearance has been drastically altered in an accident - which occasions an exploration into identity appearance and gender - but also social media, honesty, capitalism, all kinds of stuff which sounds boring but isn’t. there’s a varied cast, all of them interesting and capable of surprises, and an endearing interest in the obscure details of the history of Rockford, Illinois…It sounds like a mess, but it’s such a treat to read.

It’s full of jokes and human observation, and simply on the level of the individual sentence it’s full of treats. “Scott’s head lay on her chest like a meteorite…But Moose’s eyes were dull, as if he were asleep behind them…”Can I help you?” A girl roughly the size of an American refrigerator.” It’s sat on my shelves for nearly twenty years, and - but for lockdown - I might never have looked at it again.