Any Man #BookReview

Amber Tamblyn | pub: 2018 | 288 pp

Im super sluggish getting back to writing but I promise I have not been sluggish in reading…or listening, while planting in the garden and cruising nurseries. Admittedly, I am solidly in my dirty romance era – hello Ana Huang, Victoria Aveline, and Niki St. Crowe! That will be ending this week, since a few of my physical book holds are in, at the library, and I am excited to catch up with my favorite romantasy dramas with Jennifer L. Armentrout and Sarah J. Maas. I still haven’t finished King’s latest but, I did skip the slog of a short story on Danny, of Overlook Hotel fame. I realized, too late, THAT’s what this story was tied to, because had I known, I would have skipped it without trying! The Shining was great – Doctor Sleep, not so much. I still love King – if there is no bad, you cant fully appreciate the good! Ive also finished Brynne Weavers follow up to Butcher and Blackbird, Leather and Lark. Not as clever as the first, since i could see the tropes in between the lines, so to speak, but still entertaining, i guess. 🫣 We’ll see if it moves me to chorus in a blog. 🙄

On to Any Man- this is a multi-media/formatted book. That is usually a turn off for me, so I understand if it’s a red flag for you. Especially in an audiobook, I hate hearing someone reading text and tweets! However, Tamblyn did this really well and its gotten me interested in giving some others a try. The author uses poems, transcripts and excerpts from tv, radio interviews and podcast to paint the story of Maude – a serial rapist. The story is told through the voice of several of Maude’s victims, allowing us to hear how they met Maude, what they felt, their expectations of the ‘relationship’ – Maude is a date raper – and ultimately how the rape has impacted thier life. And, as you would expect – lives are ruined. Men are having to deal with acknowledging publicly they have fallen for a bad actor and been taken advantage of by a woman. #Gasp Tamblyn leaves no stone unturned: police and public doubt around the rape, victim’s experiencing lingering effects of being violated, often in their home, and shame and depression. Let’s not forget becoming fodder for hundreds of podcasters analyzing and commentating on your misery.

As you might be thinking, this turns rape culture in our society on its head. There isn’t anything new here, except the victims are men. They are all devesatetd as any woman would be and over time we do get to see the victims join together in a therapy group to help one another.

Pros: Yo, this was great. Kept me on edge the entire time. I found I didn’t want to miss a word from any victim, even ones I didn’t necessarily like. There are many ‘ah ha’ moments as the male victims give voice to shame, depression, isolation, hating their bodies, and fear – all of which women have juggled since Adam told God Eve gave him that apple. #Liar 🫣😒🤷🏾‍♀️ Anywho, the story of the youngest man was the most moving to me. He was footloose and fancy free, in his first apartment, living away from family, had a good job, good family support just super busy and weird with meeting new people. Per the millennial way, he ventured onto a dating app to meet a partner. He met Maude. She romanced him online and he finally agreed to meet at his apartment. Maude devastated him in a way that was very familiar. And that’s the scary part of this book – as a woman you know these stories, and these emotions, even if you haven’t been raped, but only aggressively pursued by the ‘male gaze’ as they say. This will hit close to home and stir an emotional response.

Cons: Its less than satisfying to not learn anything about Maude. She is the dark figure in the background, always a step ahead and out of reach. You at the same time will be cheering her along and hating the devastation she leaves behind.

The pain these men experience is palatable. So much so, the text leads me to think the pain took on physical form and maybe Maude did physical damage? Whoa, this was triggering on all levels. Im not sure why Im not hearing more about this book but please read. Read with caution – but read..have your boyfriend read it with you! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5 stars!