Specimen Days

In this novel, actually three intertwined stories, Michael Cunningham sets a different tone for each, according to the timing in past, present and future New York, respectively. Each story is breathtaking in its own way. The first one, dating from the Industrial Revolution, is off to a somewhat awkward start, but captures you very soon and makes your heart ache; the second one sounds a little thrillery-trashy, and the last one, sci-fi, could be located somewhere between "1984" and "E.T.". Cunningham displays to the fullest his knack for pointed facets of human feelings in just a side-sentence or two, which is all the more remarkable since the prevailing subjects in each chapter are non-human, namely machines. The humans all have some sort of flaw, be it the physical deformation of the Lucas/Lukes (counterweighed by a precocious depth of spirit, as it may be assumed with teenagers conversing in Walt Whitman-phrases), lack of character of the Simons, or social incompatibilities of the Catherines. But like lost souls on the eternal quest for happiness and love, they are magnetically drawn to one another. A beautiful symbol that connects the characters throughout the entire book is a shiny white bowl, passed on from one low-life merchant to another. By hinting that, unbeknownst to the buyers and sellers, it may be immeasurably precious, but never revealing if and why nor the fate of the bowl, Cunningham leaves us wondering about the concepts of value, luck and misfortune in general. The novel could be read as a prophetic warning, decrying social injustice and general misery caused by inventions meant to be helpful, but Cunningham accomplishes more than that. He goes full circle in showing that there really is no beginning and no end; the outcasts in the sci-fi chapter departing to another planet to seek their fortune don't seem much different from the first settlers populating the Wild West or America altogether, for that matter. In doing so, he puts our fear of our transience in perspective. A different and brilliant read.

I fell in love with Michael Cunningham's writing with his spectacular opus, "The Hours." I continue to love his style and voice in his latest, "Specimen Days." Each scene's crispness of style and beautiful eloquence kept me enthralled from the first page to the last. The masterful usage of Whitman's own poetic talent profoundly adds to the novel as a whole and never detracts from Cunningham's own powerful and unique voice throughout his narratives. I was particularly fond of the novellas "Like Beauty" and "The Children's Crusade." I found these two stories to be of considerable importance to our lives and I reread them both for their deep message and artistic voice. The clever and imaginative style combined with a painter's eye for imagery makes it as memorable as the Hours and it absolutely stands on its own as a fantastically accomplished feat. There are few authors who can tap into true creativity these days like Cunningham can and any fan of his work should be quite satisfied with his latest! Can't wait for more! I also highly recommended the exceptionally beautiful novel, "Anna's Trinity" by Howard Cobiskey

Following publication of his paean to universality, LEAVES OF GRASS, Walt Whitman spent much of his Civil War years as a nurse in the war hospitals around Washington, D.C. His experiences dealing with the human ruination visited by war upon ordinary souls led to two great but lesser known works, a book of poetry entitled DRUM TAPS ("O Captain, My Captain") and a collection of essays about the horrors of war published in 1882 under the title SPECIMEN DAYS. Michael Cunningham's SPECIMEN DAYS draws not only its title but its thematic soul from Whitman. Rather than the Civil War, however, Cunningham focuses on humanity's war against itself and the planet on which we live. His is a story of terrorism told in three parts, beginning with industrial terrorism, moving to post-9/11 acts of random terrorism, and ending with a futuristic parable of ecological and religious terrorism. The first section of SPECIMEN DAYS is entitled "In the Machine." The main character, Simon, has just died, literally eaten by a metal stamping machine in a factory referred to as "the works," a Dickensian horror chamber of industrial mindlessness. Simon's betrothed, Catherine, works as a seamstress, sewing sleeves to bodices at a dress company named Mannahatta. Simon's birth-deformed, 12-year-old brother, Lucas, takes Simon's place in the same factory, on the same machine. Lucas's belief that he can hear his dead brother's voice in the machine leads him to a seemingly demented act that saves Catherine's life. In the second section, titled "The Children's Crusade," Catherine becomes Cat, a 30-ish black woman trained as a psychologist, all intuitions and hunches. Cat works for the police department, taking hot line calls of would-be bombers and deciding which ones to take seriously. Simon becomes her younger, white, MBA futures trader, the very soul of analytical reason. Cat's tragic mistake in judgment on a child's call leads her to connect with "the family," a loose network of child terrorists seeking to reconnect urban Americans to rural life and Nature. Lucas appears as another deformed young boy, this one a terrorist whose mission has only just begun when he meets Cat. In the futuristic final section, "Like Beauty," Catherine is Catareen, a four-foot tall, female lizard-alien from the planet Nadia. Most of the north and northeastern U.S. is now uninhabitable as a result of "the meltdown," radical Christian factions have apparently seized control of the government, and New York City has become a gigantic theme park. Simon is an android actor, stationed in Central Park as a mugger and programmed to thrill Eurasian tourists with the dangerous nostalgia of "Old New York." A most unlikely pair, Catareen and Simon set out for Denver on a mythic quest, where they meet the deformed boy Lucas and their respective fates. Walt Whitman infuses Cunningham's stories like a spiritual force, even making a personal appearance in the first section as he guides young Lucas to his first

In a most adroitly brilliant manner, Mr. Cunningham has depicted a truly vivid and wonderful story, 3 times in this book. His writing style is incomparable as always. And his juxtaposition of Whitman's lines connect the 3 versions of his story through the book. Cunningham's main character is Simon. But Simon is different as a character in each of the renditions. The primary factor between the renditions is temporal. The three renditions take place at different times in history. The first takes place around 1856 to 1859 as best as it is revealed in the book. However, since Whitman first published "Leaves Of Grass" in 1855, it had to be after that. The second rendition is circa 2005. But the names of the characters are the same, and certain things from the first rendition carry to the 2nd. But the main sustaining thread between the stories remains Whitman. In the first story, Whitman even appears briefly as a character. In the 2nd and 3rd, he is prominent as a philosophy. Most of all, Cunningham seems to be trying to say that Whitman is not only timeless but universal. In his 3rd rendition, Simon is a "simulo" a titanium frame with a human body. His traveling companion is an "alien." This alien is from a different planet, about 10 to 17 lightyears away, but it is a metaphoric concept. Cunningham uses a real alien to represent an `Illegal Alien" and all other minority groups in this country. He uses it to show prejudice and xenophobia which both seem, to one extent or another, as Universal as Whitman. Yet Whitman would not have rejected this concept. Whitman rejected nothing, he only accepted and loved. Cunningham takes us just one step further to the understanding of Whitman's concept of universality and love of all. We can all be found in the Leaves Of Grass in the end. The book is recommended for all readers of great literary fiction. Cunningham truly has a gift for writing. Do not miss this opportunity to experience it.

Michael Cunningham has proven himself to be one of today's finest writers. From his stunning comprehensive book "Flesh and Blood" to what I believe one of the best books ever written, "The Hours", Cunningham's great literary gift is his careful use of words; i.e. making the words work for him, instead of he working for the words. Such is the case with his latest book, "Specimen Days", just recently released. A compendium of three stories, like the Hours, Specimen Days tells three separate stories in three separate times, and like the Hours, they are interconnected. The first story is one of an industrailized New York, where machinery rules, and a young boy copes with life and death, and his infinite knowledge of Walt Whitman. The second story takes place in modern New York, as a black psychologist deals with terrorism in today's age. The third story zips along to a futuristic New York, with a trio of futuristic entities as they make their way through this world. Whereas the Hours has clear and amazing connections, the reader must work more for the connections in this book, however, they are there. The most obvious one is Cunningham's use of essentially the same three characters in each story, continuining along with their own stories, There are more subtle and rich connections, and they are worth the discovery. However, the thing I am most impressed about with this book is Cunningham's writing. There is a scene in the first story that exemplifies his writing style, and the beauty of his words. Lucas, a deformed adolscent, is sent on a mini-quest by none other than Walt Whitman, and Lucas finds himself in Central Park at the Bethesda fountain. As Lucas peers beyond the angels hands, he sees the impressive starlight, never having seen it before. The scene was so moving, with each word chosen exactly right, that I read it over and over again, to relive the experience created by Cunningham. For that alone, this book is worth the journey. It may be another few years before we get treated to another Cunningham book, but let me tell you, it is definitely worth the wait.