Specimen Days [Hardcover]

In his latest novel, "Specimen Days," Cunningham once again turns to a long-gone master of words-the great American poet Walt Whitman-for inspiration.

The result is a volume of three interwoven tales, each laced with deliciously fluid lines from Whitman, including two that recur, hauntingly, throughout: "...for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you" and "...to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier."

Throughout the book, characters are obsessed with Walt Whitman, and several quote his prose compulsively while traversing the city of New York over the decades, from the Industrial Revolution to the future. In the first section, the Whitman-obsessed is a deformed child named Luke who works in an ironworks factory and is in love with his dead brother's seamstress fiancé. In the second section (which takes place the present day) the Whitman-quoter is another deformed child, one who has spent his life trapped in an apartment with walls covered in the pages of "Leaves of Grass" and has been raised to be a terrorist. The third section delves into science fiction, with a Whitman-programmed character who is half-human, half-robot, and travels across a radiation-wasted United States with an alien companion.

Readers will be appalled and fascinated at the possibilities raised: Is technology dooming the planet? Will things become even more unsafe for everyday citizens? If we find life on another planet, will we be disappointed?

"Specimen Days" is disturbing, yes, but impossible to give up on, even for the squeamish. Michael Cunningham's imaginative stories are irresistible even when they are nightmarish, and his writing is lyrical and filled with gorgeous imagery and turns of phrase. A wonderful book, but try it for yourself! Pick up a copy. Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," an odd, compelling little novel I can't stop thinking about.

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In his latest novel, "Specimen Days," Cunningham once again turns to a long-gone master of words-the great American poet Walt Whitman-for inspiration.

The result is a volume of three interwoven tales, each laced with deliciously fluid lines from Whitman, including two that recur, hauntingly, throughout: "...for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you" and "...to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier."

Throughout the book, characters are obsessed with Walt Whitman, and several quote his prose compulsively while traversing the city of New York over the decades, from the Industrial Revolution to the future. In the first section, the Whitman-obsessed is a deformed child named Luke who works in an ironworks factory and is in love with his dead brother's seamstress fiancé. In the second section (which takes place the present day) the Whitman-quoter is another deformed child, one who has spent his life trapped in an apartment with walls covered in the pages of "Leaves of Grass" and has been raised to be a terrorist. The third section delves into science fiction, with a Whitman-programmed character who is half-human, half-robot, and travels across a radiation-wasted United States with an alien companion.

Readers will be appalled and fascinated at the possibilities raised: Is technology dooming the planet? Will things become even more unsafe for everyday citizens? If we find life on another planet, will we be disappointed?

"Specimen Days" is disturbing, yes, but impossible to give up on, even for the squeamish. Michael Cunningham's imaginative stories are irresistible even when they are nightmarish, and his writing is lyrical and filled with gorgeous imagery and turns of phrase. A wonderful book, but try it for yourself! Pick up a copy. Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," an odd, compelling little novel I can't stop thinking about.

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