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.