Book Review: We by Michael Landweber

Title: We

Author: Michael Landweber

Genre: Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 173

Rating: B

Recommended?: Yes

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For the most part, I thought this book did a great job delivering on a fantastic premise. We centers around the character of Ben, a middle-aged gay man who suffered a great deal of trauma over his older sister’s rape and suicide years before.

When Ben suffers a head injury, he finds himself occupying the body and mind of his seven-year-old self and reliving the events leading up to the assault. Seven-year-old Ben (nicknamed ‘Binky’) is very much in control and the adult Ben fights to get through to him and make him realize the importance of rewriting their history.

There were some parts (like Ben inhabiting a literal manifestation of his subconscious, like a bizarro movie set) that were a little bit hard to swallow but I loved the main character and the story kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Ben’s voice was acerbic and unforgettable and the author did a lot of awesome things with his atypical time traveling premise.

The only point where I thought the book really faltered was the end, where things got cartoonish and everything was wrapped up way too neatly. Overall this is really an original and fascinating novel and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, although the author still has some room to grow (particularly as far as his endings are concerned.)