How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets

This novel is a brilliant and beautifully written meditation on the ever shifting nature of the truth. It is also an excellent portrayal of how Evan, the "black sheep" of his family, learns to take charge of his own story and stop letting others dictate it for him. Yes, he is a flawed character. He has secrets that he has kept from his family because he was too ashamed to reveal them. He has a 14 year old son he has never met, and he is an extremely talented musician who isn't getting anywhere with his music. And he has epilepsy. The journey we take with Evan as he learns to grow up and become a father is immensely satisfying. The details, especially regarding the emotional lives of the characters, are beautifully described. You have to be smart about reading this, though. While it is written in the third person, it is not an omniscient narrator. It is a very tight third person where everything is really coming straight from Evan's P.O.V. It is as close to being written in the first person as you can get while still being a third person narrative. I found this fascinating! And I loved the tone it set for the book. So if you find yourself complaining that Mica, for example, is too good to be true, you are not reading carefully! Of course she is too good to be true--everything we learn about her we learn from Evan, and he's fallen completely in love with her. I honestly don't understand how more people haven't found their way to this book. How Evan Broke His Head--about family, truth, fatherhood, and being able to rewrite your own story--is an amazing read. I was transported instantly into the world of these characters and almost forgot that they were characters and not real people whose lives I cared about deeply.

I adored this book, mainly because Evan represents someone that we all know: a sweet but misguided thirty-something dude who hasn't grown up, and is squandering his talents in a way that frustrates everyone around him. The author weaves this character into an amazing story that was enjoyable to read, incredibly compelling, and packed with fully developed, diverse characters. It was also fun to read so much about Seattle - I felt as though the city was another well-drawn character. I've read that Stein has been compared to Nick Hornby, but I gots to tell y'all that I think he is better. I'm trying to decide between Hornby's new one and Raven Stole the Moon, an I think Raven will be next up.

I was a little hesitant about this book. It sounded compelling, but the reviews made it sound a little scattered- it's about a guy, and his kid and a band and epilepsy...and, and. But it's not like that at all. It's a peek into someone's very complicated life. Sure, it's about a guy and this kid and a band and epilepsy-- but Stein writes in a way that makes us care and feel involved without manipulating our emotions. It seemed so real. The characters in EVAN have conversations that don't go quite right. They suffer from jumbled and conflicting memories. Evan is cool, he's a hot guitarist, but that doesn't mean he can help behaving like a dweeb now and then. What I liked the most was how Stein didn't let Evan get too caught up in his own pity party. His life became difficult and he had reason to wallow now and then, but Stein didn't baby him. He made it clear that Evan wasn't the only guy in the world with problems, that once Evan looked up and out of his insular bubble of emotions, he would be slapped with the reality that the world ain't always about YOU. If you ask me, that is what this book is really about. I was concerned that this book might be an agonizing excersize in self realization. Instead, it was an enjoyable peek into a life very dissimilar to my own. Like Nick Hornby's books, it was a thoughtful and enjoyable journey. And isn't that what fiction is all about? Don't hesitate. Read it!

Evan's emotional journey -- from a sanitized, solitary existence into bona-fide fatherhood -- hits all the frets of a powerful story: sharp-witted dialogue, vivid characters, insight into medical challenges and prose that snaps like well-placed plucks of guitar strings. In the end, Evan's plight is universal. Despite his deepest flaws, the greatest secret is the one he keeps from himself: his worthiness to love and be loved. I hold up my lighter and turn it full-flame for Stein's latest work. Encore!

This is a book for people who love to read. You'll want to buy several copies-one to keep, others to give to friends. It's original, beautifully written, and deals with complicated subject matter that doesn't easily transcend to literature. The prose is flawless, the imagery gripping, and yet it's still a very human story that will stay with you long after you read the last page.