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Reader Reviews | |
Review by Ben Macnair (311212) Rating (8/10) Review
by Ben Macnair His first work of literature, The Pleasure of my Company was released in 2003, and explores the life of Daniel Cambridge. Daniel cannot leave his Santa Monica apartment. He panics when he has to cross over the kerb. He worries about the happening of random events. He goes to the Pharmacy to buy things. Not because he needs them, but because they are cheap, and he cannot resist a bargain. Then the outside world interrupts him. He is wrongly accused of murder, and becomes a mini celebrity. He almost seduces Phillipa, his neighbour, but goes out running with her boyfriend instead, and faces the outside world on his own terms. He wins an essay writing competition to find the most average American, twice, and has to kill off one of the characters to hide his charade. He gives his speech, after Brian has driven him there.
It is a tragic story in many regards, but it holds the pathos
in with stories about Daniel and how he sees the world outside
his window. The almost childlike way in which Daniel sees the
world adds a lot to the story, from the death of his grandmother,
and the missed opportunity of going to her funeral, and its family
reunion, to the touching pseudo family he forms with Clarissa,
his therapist and her son, to the ending which is at once is both
fitting and also somewhat unlikely. |
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