book review: Erase Me, Happy Head, and Dead Head by Josh Silver

From my book review post yesterday it is clear that I discovered a new favorite author in Josh Silver! After devouring the over four-hundred pages of Fruit Fly in a single sitting, I immediately requested his three other novels from the library and proceeded to binge read every single one of them.

What makes Silver's writing so addictive? Each book is a dark, twisty, wild ride featuring complex, outwardly damaged characters that Silver infuses with a deeply compelling, lovable core. He expertly uses inner dialogue to inject unexpected humor into heavy topics -- including mental health, addiction, violence, rape, suicide, sexual identity, and domestic abuse. These spots of lightness serve as a brilliant reminder that, beneath it all, we are a beautifully messy work in process.

While each of Silver’s books are built around similar themes, each boasts a completely unique and highly original plot. I can’t get across just how impossible these books are to put down (and, I’m not alone in feeling this since all of these books get a solid 4.25 stars from other reviewers). Here is a breakdown of Josh Silver's other books.

Erase Me (published under the title Traumaland in the UK), is a total mind trip. Halfway through, I literally stopped and said out loud, "What?! This is bonkers." 

To preserve the jaw-dropping twists, I will just say this novel is about a seventeen year old, Eli, who was in a near fatal car crash and goes to extremes to try and get both his memories and his emotions back.

Happy Head and Dead Head are a duology that follow Seb and Finn at a facility for troubled teens. Run by Dr. Stone and Madame Manning, the facility claims to cure modern unhappiness by giving stressed teens the tools to cope. Unfortunately, not everything is what it appears and it ends up being more like a dystopian Squid Game than a place where “commitment, growth, and gratitude can lead to a happy head.” As these teens try to determine who can be trusted as they try and escape, they explore love and what it actually means to be happy - being who you are, not changing for anyone, and hoping to inspire those others to do the same.

All four of Silver's books are ripe for being adapted to the screen. So, I was so excited to see Happy Head and Dead Head were acquired in a “highly competitive auction,” according to the author’s wikipedia’s page. 

Silver’s unique background explains why his books are so deep and relatable. He originally attended the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and performed in the West End and on Broadway. At 30, he shifted paths going back to school to get training as a mental health nurse, saying he himself has struggled with mental health his whole life, and still can. While working in adult inpatient settings, in adolescent wards, and with younger children, he enjoys writing in spare moments. His joy for writing, and also his personal struggles with mental health and his clinical experiences, seep into the pages offering such a wonderful perspective. Be sure to read more about the author in a wonderful interview with him in the back of Happy Head. “The notion of happiness is prescribed to us. It’s everywhere. I mean, social media says I should make loads of smoothies and film myself drinking them. Those people look happy. Or do a dance to a song I hate so people like my stuff and follow me. Those dopamine hits will help. I can apparently care about the climate and important things, definitely, just need to make sure I look hot while I’m out protesting. Then post about it. If you’re gay, be a cool one, please. Effortlessly cool. Like it’s not been difficult.”

book review: The Circle and The Every by Dave Eggers

Utterly absurd, yet completely plausible. Much like 1984, The Circle and The Every, by Dave Eggers, feel like fiction, but also undeniably like real life at the present time. The Circle was written in 2013, only three years after Instagram was released. So, it’s amazing to me that the author had so much insight and imagination into what social media would transform into over the years. And, the struggles we would have with wanting to use the services social media (and other apps like health tracking and AI) offer in order that we might share with the world and feel connected, while also battling internally with constant issues of data and privacy. 

The stories and characters alone would make The Circle engrossing to read. But, with how closely this mirrors our current situation, the author provided so much more contemplation above the baseline narrative. For example, the apps that become integrated in everyday life are so imaginative. And, if not for all the pressing privacy issues, I would want them all. It’s much like today, the conundrum weighing the costs to benefits these services provide, yet also being mindful, and cautiously aware, of the associated risks and negative impacts. It’s astounding the similarities in how much data and privacy the characters in the story freely give up, much like us today. Seeing things evolve in the storyline, slowly at first and then snowballing, made me realize how normal things become over time, unquestioned and accepted. While this is a fictional story, I highly recommend reading it in the present moment. It will definitely push your mind to consider what path is right for you going forward. And, it's definitely not all doom and gloom. There is so much humor strung throughout - the workplace scenarios, especially, are hilarious, yet completely accurate.

The Every is a good follow-up story to The Circle, doing a great job of continuing on with some of the same characters from the first book as background, while introducing storylines for two new main characters that feel fresh and worthwhile to be told (not re-purposed from the first book). I continued to enjoy the imagination the author has in all of the apps and services he comes up with! Many, I legitimately think he should pursue trying to make a reality in the real world! This book continues to engage the reader to ponder deeply the balance we have between sharing and privacy, topics very relevant in todays world as people start to discuss backtracking to a more analog world in an effort to claw back some privacy and free thinking, and pursue real-life connections over digital. Like The Circle, the author did a really great job of talking about such a serious topic, while also making the storyline and characters light hearted and relatable. Even if someone chose to read this book without digging into any of the messages in a meaningful way, they would enjoy the plot and character development.