Reviews for Pretend All Your Life

The average rating for Pretend All Your Life based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-01-29 00:00:00 Lisa Jones Note: This book will be on shelves April 1, 2010 from The Permanent Press. I don't read much fiction these days. I was however offered an opportunity to read a new work of fiction by Joseph Mackin entitled "Pretend All Your Life." From the top let me say that this is an adult book and deals with several adult issues including murder, sex, grief, and the overall bleakness of the human condition. Centering around the life of Dr. Gallin, a New Y0rk City plastic surgeon, the book is set six months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This is the first fictional book I have read that deals with this American tragedy and I have to say that Mackin takes this challenge and handles it well. In the midst of exploring six days in the life of Dr. Gallin who had lost his son in the 9/11 attacks, Mackin manages to make something happen I did not think possible. Macking makes the time after 9/11 seem nostalgic. With his references to popular culture issues at the time such as the musical artist Prince's name change controversy Mackin allowed me to look back at that time in history through a lense that filtered out the overall sadness and fear that surrounded this country. I'm not sure if that is a good thing but it was refreshing none the less. The book puts Dr. Gallin to the test though. How far will he go to alleviate the grief he feels about not only his son, but his life in general. Filled with regret and pain over trying to fill the voids in his life with fast living and worldly pleasures, Gallin is eventually faced with an opportunity to possibly make right some of the wrongs he has committed. This book causes one to stop and ask how many wrongs do make a right as Gallin's attempts to better his life lead to more destruction. In this short 200 page book Macking manages to introduce a very intriguing cast of characters including Gallin's mentor physician who has great faith, the son of a guerilla warrior trying to make his way in the land of promise, a nurse diagnose with AIDS and his gay lover looking for vengance, and an unnamed character who has been given a chance to simply press the reset button on life. This book was a slow read for me. The overall story is an interesting one and I must say that the opening paragraph of chapter seven is one of the most well written pieces of literature I have read in some time. The book ends abruptly and is untidy to say the least. Overall, if you enjoy books that explore the condition of man without faith in anything but himself and the peril that comes when we trust ourselves, pick this book up. If not, I wouldn't recommend it.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-04-12 00:00:00 Joanne Crockett Not too long ago I read Saturday, a novel by Ian McEwan that details the events of a single day. I really loved it. When I read that the events in Joseph Mackin's Pretend All Your Life take place over just six days, I found myself wondering how it would compare. When I started to read, I realized it compares very well. The protagonist in both books is a medical professional, but Joseph Mackin's protagonist, Dr. Gallin, is a plastic surgeon rather than a neurosurgeon. The novel reflects this specialty from the myriad surfaces of thoughts, lives and events that it depicts'sharp surfaces that cut, and mirrors that reflect. As New York struggles with its own new face in the aftermath of 9/11, so Dr. Gallin searches for identity among the people and purposes surrounding him. Is it all about appearances, or do appearances shape truth? Gallin once told his son "Pretend to be a thing all your life and at the end that's what you'll have been…" But what if you change what you're pretending? What if someone makes the pretence impossible? And what if what you've pretended turns out not to be what you want? The doctor shapes people's bodies because what's on the outside really does matter. But terrorists have reshaped New York. Death has reshaped the lives of survivors. Sickness reshapes security and threats change the shape of hope. Meanwhile a woman sculpts a form that might be her best piece of work, and waits for art itself to define its completion. Perhaps that's what Gallin's waiting for too in this six-day pause before the future. The end of the book seemed surprisingly abrupt, newly sculpted changes, deliberate and accidental, suddenly coming to fruition. But then, change often is abrupt, and escape might be a new beginning or simply the next turn in the road. It felt right, and I put the book down with a sigh. I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the way the author made me view identity, and the way he juxtaposed large themes and small. The weight of fate felt similar to many of Ian McEwan's books, but an underlying lightness of touch made me think of McEwan's world relieved by penthouse sun and well-placed art. This was a very satisfying novel, deeply intriguing, curiously thought-provoking, and a really good tale. So now I've reviewed three books from the Permanent Press, and I've loved them all. I have a feeling I'll soon be guaranteeing that I'll really enjoy anything they publish - I'll be raiding the library for last year's books, and the year before's…