In the course of writing The Metropolis Case, I read a book (Contingency, Irony and Solidarity) by the American philosopher Richard Rorty in which (to simplify) he basically posits that one of the roles of fiction is to increase society's empathy for people who in the past would have been treated with disdain, cruelty, or inequality. This idea resonated with me, and I knew it was one of the reasons I wanted to write fiction (and in fact, was already writing it, in the way our unconscious often dictates our actions before we fully understand why), to tell stories about people whose voices I felt had been largely ignored, at least as I perceived it. This isn't to say I wanted my characters to be politically correct 'senstivity-training' placards, or to play off of cultural stereotypes in a reactionary manner that would dilute the impact of the story, but as much as possible, I wanted my characters (even as they moved through admittedly unreal or "operatic" plot devices) to think and act like "real" people I've known and loved in my life.
As part of the promotional efforts for the book, my publisher scheduled what's called a "virtual book tour," which means that they (or more specifically, a company they hired for this purpose) sent out the book to book bloggers around the country; except for a free book (or galley), these bloggers are not compensated, and they have no obligation to give the book a favorable review. In fact, many of the early reviews on the tour have been quite critical, for reasons that are total bullshit lol I won't bother describing but that are easily discovered if you feel like spending a few minutes on Google.
So with this in mind, I didn't have high hopes when I read that the book was going to be reviewed next by Michelle V (from Texas), a self-described 'follower of Christ and a Mom who loves books of all kinds.' As a nonheterosexual guy in New York City with very liberal political views as a rule, I was ready to dismiss this book-blogging lady based solely on her religious views, and okay, it didn't help that she's from Texas, which as we all know is one of the biggest 'red states' in the country. You get the picture: I was not only 'lowering my expectations' but also being an ungrateful jerk.
Today, however, her review went up and included the following:
I really loved his characters. Characters are so important to me in any book. It can be an awesome plot but if I don't care about the characters, then I'm just not going to care about the book. I really cared about all of the characters in these stories and I was rooting for each one of them, especially Martin, who was my favorite. In the beginning of the book you don't really see the ties between the different stories and the author slowly gives you clues to the connections as the mysteries begin to unravel.
For my blog readers who only read Christian books, this is not a Christian fiction title and there is sex and language.
I highly recommend this book! It is wonderfully written and I was especially impressed at the weaving together of all the different stories without it feeling confusing or too jumpy. I thought it was very well done and I thought the ties between the different stories were fascinating! It's very theatrical, intellectual, and philosophical. This was one where I stepped a little out of my box because the book caught my eye and I'm really glad that I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
So yeah, knock me over with a feather. Of course I was pleased by her kind words and general appreciation for the story -- I mean, who doesn't like a nice review, no matter where it comes from? -- but the more I thought about it, the more struck I was by the idea that the empathic 'bridge' I wanted to build really goes both ways, and I would be smart to keep that in mind going forward. I realized that I had been wrong to preemptively judge this woman based on her religious views and where she lived, and if she could relate to an HIV-positive gay "bear"/aesthete in New York City, there was no reason why I couldn't pay her the same respect in return.
Granted, all of this is just a small thing, and I understand that no novel (much less a single review of it) is going to 'change the world,' nor do I mean to suggest that there aren't real differences among people in our society that are sometimes worth fighting about. But in an era when the intensity of the media in which we're all immersed tends to reinforce negative stereotypes and promote facile us-versus-them divisions, I found my heart warmed just a little bit; I resolved going forward to be more open-minded, to try to judge people as people instead of on the labels affixed to them, just as I hope others will do the same for me.
