The Handyman

The only reason this book gets a mere 3 1/2 stars rather than 4 1/2-5 stars, is because amidst nearly every other reader's positive reviews for this book, there is one petty-minded reader, who has repeatedly written one damning, nasty, vitriolic review after another on this site. Each time, he or she writes under Anonyomous, starting in April '99 in LA. (It's perhaps no coincidence that it starts in LA, as this is where Carolyn See lives. He or she obviously has some profoundly vindictive personal grudge towards Ms. See). Then every few days, the same person writes another vindictive scathing review, in suspiciously similar language, this time being Anonymous from another part of LA, until as the weeks go by, he or she (and I'm figuring it's a he), realizes he'd better change the place where he lives to some other town, so as not to arouse suspicion. Since Ms. See, a very sweet lady, teaches at UCLA, it makes me wonder whether the perpetrator of such meanness is a former student of hers to whom she gave bad marks for one of his essays. And judging by the quality of his critiques, she would seem to have been justified. Please, Mr. See-Hater, whomever you are, go foist your petty destructive words on someone genuinely worthy of such vitriol...like George W. Bush.

It took awhile for this book to make an impact, but what an impact it makes! The reader is a bit thrown off by the opening pages which contain a grant proposal to study the life of the most famous artist of the generation. Once the story is begun, it is so captivating that it's easy to forget the opening and get lost. The plot follows a young aspiring artist who can't seem to find his metier. He goes to Paris but just can't seem to fit in and instead returns to L.A. to try to make his mark. Rather than pursue art, he ends up rooming with an odd cast of characters (one of whom never bathes) and making money as a handyman. Though he's not particularly handy in terms of fixing things, he has a therapeutic effect on everyone he comes across. In short, he ends up fixing egos and lost souls rather than doing a bang up job with the laundry machine. See is such a fantastic writer that everything works -- the prose carries us from one oddball family to another. The beauty of the book is that once you reach the end, you could spend an hour re-reading the first two pages and saying "Ah HAH -- now I get it." The characters are so eccentric and interesting and the main character so compelling that it's hard not to be taken in by this thoroughly charming and well-crafted book.

I fear many of my fellow readers haven't the first clue as to what they're talking about. I am shocked to see criticism of this book. Carolyn See is hardly amateurish. She has not yet written a bad novel, and she is well-loved and respected by Los Angeles Book Review readers and many former students.Her deceptively simple stylings create a minimalistic and realistic narrative that imbues her writings with a sense of character and place that lesser authors (hiding behind big words and complex sentences) would kill for. To dismiss her work because it isn't complex enough is to miss the entire spirit of her work.But, then, nothing's for everyone!

I'm not quite sure what drew me to this book, not only examine it in the bookstore, but to then buy it and then quickly consume it in the course of a few days.I know that I found it lyrically simple and compelling. It is a storyof holiness cloaked in ordinary deeds and unconscious acts of kindness.Carolyn See has created a character In Robert Hampton who while seeming to be a down and out painter, has a remarkable ability in his role of handyman to bring a a completely unconscious and remarkably simple selflessness that has a kind of curative effect on the many unhappy people he encounters in the course of his odd-job life. While he himself doesn't have much self esteem and doesn't see himself as doing anything remarkably well, his ability to lift people out of their own wreckage toward a kind of path of salvation is his captivating gift -- perhaps it is his 'artistry'.There is an element of the Jesus story retold in See's work. Her futuristic grant proposal prepared after her character's odd job life portrays him as a critically acclaimed 'artist' who went unrecognized in the latter years of the twentieth century. There is a "testament" quality to the proposal -- much as we read the seeminly unremarkable things which Christ did while he walked on earth in human form in the New Testament. For this reader, See's work brings me to ask myself whether I would know Christ if he entered my life today in some gentle and seemingly unimportant way. I'm not sure these parallels were intended by the author, yet, clearly, this is an inspirational and mystical story.There is another piece of inspiration in this story for me personally. We don't have to do great things to make a difference in this world; instead, he need to realize the potential greatness of small acts of kindness, charity and an ability to transcend our own often myopic worlds.However I brought this book home, I'm really glad I did. It continues to resonate through my mind after a few weeks since I've read it! There is something truly special in See's 'failed artist.'A great read!

Carolyn See's The Handyman is the kind of book you never want to end. You read a little here, a little there, forcing yourself to put it down so that you can save some for later. It's suspensful, funny, sad, uplifting, and even magical. This book made my heart grow bigger, and changed the way I look at my life.Every woman should have a handyman like Bob, the main character. He's a super hero for the neglected, abused, ignored, and taken-for-granted wives and mothers who can't see beyond the heaps of dirty laundry to find themselves. He's also a young artist in search of inspiration. You'd think he'd find it when he goes to Paris, but he doesn't. Oddly enough, he finds in Los Angeles. He finds it in the aromatic loins of an older woman, in the sadness of a lonely trophy wife, and in the day to day satisfaction of being able to help people who need him. Bob is on his way to becoming something, and we are witnesses. What an original idea Carolyn See has come up with here. Imagine the road to glory as an artist not being an ego trip. The book says lots of great things about the creative process while never sounding pretentious or preachy, but what I loved most about it was that it seemed to speak to me personally, to the single mother who lives in Los Angeles and doesn't have a man around to take out the garbage let alone dance with on a Saturday night. Mostly, though, it reminded me how important human kindness is, and how the artist must be compassionate, and without judgment. It's a book about getting a life. You can't wait around for life to happen to you. You must go after what it is you love.