“The miracle of the world, Mr. Vandaline, is that no one’s disguise is perfect. There is in every person, no matter how graceful, a seam, a thread curling out of them. It’s like a pimple that rouge cannot cover up, a patch of thinning hair. Often, it’s the almost unnoticed thing that’s a thread: a bit lip, a slight sigh. But when pulled by the right hands, it will unravel the person entire.”
Giovanni Bernini is a student of humanity, fighting his way through life, taking on the personas of others and slowly moving further and further away from himself. In Jacob Rubin’s debut novel, The Poser, he writes in a tumbling, hurried fashion; as if he couldn’t get his thoughts onto the paper quickly enough. Despite this, the narrative is compelling and moves at a nice, quick clip.
Bernini is convinced that he is the exception to his rule, that he has no thread in his core, no string that can unravel him to show his true nature. It is this belief that moves the story and drives him to devour the personalities of other people. Giovanni does not just impersonate the voices of those around him, he studies and collects subtle movements, and knows how to read emotions that are buried far beneath the surface of those he observes.
The arrival of Lucy Starlight throws a serious wrench into Bernini’s gears, as he finds he cannot find the thread that runs through her. To him, “The world was a smooth case, Lucy a splinter jutting out of it.” Not being able to imitate another human spins Bernini off of his regular course and becomes the linchpin for this surprisingly clever novel.
In prose that brings to mind a world with big top circuses and travel by hot air balloon, Jacob Rubin has captivated me and pulled me into this strange, colorful narrative. What disguises do I daily use to hide the fragile cord of truth running through my person? If Giovanni Bernini were here to show me, I’m not sure that I would want to know the answer.
Written by Hannah
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