Darwin Alone in the Universe [Paperback]

Darwin Alone in the Universe - a review of m.a.c. farrant's latest.

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Posted by Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti on February 05, 2005 04:36 PM (See all posts by Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti)
Filed under: Books, Books: Arts, Books: Biography, Books: Humor, Books: Literature, Books: Women - Scroll down to read comments on this story and/or add one of your own.



Darwin Alone in the Universe
M.A.C. Farrant
Book from Talonbooks, Ltd.
Release date: 01 June, 2003





I had been hungrily looking for my next great read - the book I would voraciously devour and sink my teeth into and not let go because it was that good and I had almost given up hope when a dear friend sent me "Darwin Alone in the Universe" by author M.A.C. Farrant, the author, I discovered, whom Publisher's Weekly called "A brave iconoclast." I had not read Farrant before Darwin Along in the Universe and so began my adventure with Farrant as my tour guide of her universe.

A collection of short-shorts, or short fiction / creative non-fiction works, Darwin Alone in the Universe captures everything in our lives from those who so pious and self-righteous and "lovely" such as Dr. Lovely in the story "Whoops", an hysterical brief account of what it must feel like to be known as god's special chosen one by a radio or television doctor who doles out advice to the willing-to-listen and tell us, "The path of the righteous is a lovely path. Because all the landmines and nasty surprises are going off in the backyards of those people who have chosen a life of unloveliness," we are told. If we could all strive to be as lovely and perfect as Dr. Lovely and her forty glasses of water consumed each day: "Water - keeping me lovely." she self-importantly tells us. How much Dr. Lovely sounds like some less fictitious counterparts in the real world, alas.

Here too is the famous dead journalist in New Laws who comes back to life only to have a child at age sixty-five and show us how we have nothing to fear, but leading us clean in a hospital and show us that `the dead can return' and we can "become hysterically fearful all over again." There are children who are like characters that walk on during a sitcom with their baggy clothes and backward caps and wry and cynical viewpoint for their young age. There are data entry clerks who fantasize about fellow-coworkers in their snug Dockers and old men having breakdowns and watching too much daytime TV and sensationalism and loving every minute of it and yet still all retaining their intelligence and wit and dare we say, even wisdom.


Farrant even has a way of taking the most intellectual of conversations as in "The Sale of Mysteries" - and adding a note or certain tone that lends an otherwise purely intellectual story a real charisma and oomph that is suggestive if not flirtatious or sexual at times. And although sex is never overtly mentioned here, there is a play at work that tell us these characters know each other well, and whether they are married or just having a conversation, the waythey discuss and consider books, stories, the world we see that one thing leads to another and whether intended or not (or this reviewer's mind only) there is a playfulness and a flirtation here that is delightful, smart, assertive, and outright sexy. Perhaps it is that there is something sexy about two people having an intellectual conversation in this day and age and each being able to keep up with each other. Whichever the case, Farrant makes it work.

Farrant writes with a wit and a humor and yes, wisdom took, that is quick and bladed-sharp and so highly effective in making us laugh (in some cases, out-loud, not an easy feat for any author) mostly because so much of what she writes is relatable and true and written with such intelligence. If the events in these anecdotes haven't happened to us, we know that they could or that such things exist or are happening somewhere to someone at some time if not now.

And that's just the trick; Farrant takes anecdotes from the lives of someone(s) somewhere all over the place. Reading Farrant is much like being on a series of brief journeys - traveling rapidly between worlds, bounding between them as if with some universal permit or passport. Really, it's astounding that Farrant is able to get into the head's of so many different types of people - or perhaps they are all sides of the author; in either case, the array and the diversity are as memorable as they are impressive. Her humor, threaded throughout the entire book, is also outstanding. That so many and so varied a situation could be seen with such verve by one author is truly impressive. Even her run in with her husband's new digital camera as he checks the focus by taking pictures of her teeth is to our amusement and though alas, there is no seduction, Farrant writes:

"I was reading in bed the night he took the picture. "Pay no attention to me," he said, a man on his knees, creeping towards me. First he took a picture of my cheek, which when he showed to me, looked like the Sahara desert. Then he said, "Open your mouth" and then I knew it wasn't romance he had in mind. "I want to check the focus..." ....Which he did, having his way with me by repeatedly taking my picture."


Though this book may be a quick read, and each story, even quicker (each coming in at just about two or three pages at most), they are nonetheless stories that stick with us and that we will doubtless turn to time and again when we wish to have our spirits lifted or wish to remember this outstanding author capable of spinning such bright tales that she can make us laugh in so few words.

Delight, and sheer genius.


sadi ranson-polizzotti









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