In the Shape of a Man eBook Paul Clayton
Download As PDF : In the Shape of a Man eBook Paul Clayton 
Rosemary’s Baby meets Revolutionary Road…
On the border between the necropolis of Colma, home to over two million dead souls and 1,794 somewhat live ones -- and the gritty industrial working-class town of South City --
At 1015 Crestview, little seven-year-old Reynaldo cowers under the escalating abuse hurled by an adoptive mother who now sees him as a burden.
Allen, a workaholic Silicon Valley techie, seeks relief from domestic conflict by slipping away to sample the sweet brews at McCoy’s, a mysterious pub and Hell’s Angels hangout.
Up the street, young adults Rad and Tawny drift between the worlds of skateboarding and community activism, free love and commitment. Sampling Buddhism and squabbling with the relatives, they avoid thinking about the 15-foot Burmese python in their garage.
Does evil exist? Is it still with us? How would it manifest in modern life? This genre-bending novel of alienation and betrayal suggests that evil, as well as redemption, can come In the Shape of a Man.
Paul Clayton is the author of Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam , which was short listed for a 2001 Frankfurt eBook Award, along with works by Joyce Carol Oates and David McCullough.
“Society’s ambivalence about the value of children, and personal responsibility, creates drama in two neighboring households. The haunting story of little adopted Reynaldo will send you running to hug your kids.” -- Stephen Gallup, author of What About the Boy
REVIEW From the opening scene on, IN THE SHAPE OF A MAN wraps a fog of dread around readers, pulling them into the misty depths of moral turpitude. Adopted as an infant, then later shunted aside after the birth of his sister, seven-year-old Reynaldo is at the epicenter of abuse from his mother Tina and benign neglect from father Allen. Through skilled juxtaposition of description, dialogue and narrative, author Paul Clayton does such an effective job of depicting family dysfunction, and the underlying evil forces, that the reader’s heart just breaks for Reynaldo. One knows this child is doomed, but the who, what, where and how keep the pages turning.
Less compelling but also skillfully portrayed are a freewheeling young couple down the street, Tawny and Rad, the default caretakers of Ketsel, a 15-foot Burmese python who resides in their garage, a good faith deposit from a former roommate who never claims him. Tawny struggles with an unwanted pregnancy and Rad’s infidelity while Ketsel has his own agenda. -- Judge, 2nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards.
In 2015, In the Shape of a Man was selected as a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Awards. (Only ten percent of submitted books become finalists) The Hoffer Award was founded… to honor freethinking writers and independent books of exceptional merit. The commercial environment for today’s writers has all but crushed the circulation of ideas …Furthermore, many of the top literary prizes will not even consider independent books …choosing instead to become the marketing arms of large presses. The “Hoffer”… books are chiefly from small, academic, and micro presses, including self-published offerings. Throughout the centuries, writers such as Emily Dickinson, James Joyce, Walt Whitman, and Virginia Wolfe have taken the path of self-publishing rather than have their ideas forced into a corporate or sociopolitical mold.
In the Shape of a Man eBook Paul Clayton
I think there is a point in every parent's life when you realize that for your own sanity, some literature is off limits to you. Maybe it's the first time you hold your child and you realize how vulnerable it is. Maybe it's the first time your child has an injury or a scary avoided accident and you understand that you, and only you, are truly responsible for keeping them safe. Or maybe it's when something terrible happens to someone else's child and you can't help imagining how much pain it would have caused you to be that child's parent. Whichever it is, at some point, you have to stop worrying about all the awful things that could happen to your children. So, you rule out certain stories, hoping that way you can at least stop worrying about the made-up dangers at least. Even when those stories are beautiful and complex and even redemptive. Nevil Shute's On the Beach is one. Cormac McCarthy's The Road is another. After reading In the Shape of a Man, I wish that I could say that this was one of those books too. But I can't, because unlike the events in On the Beach or The Road, the situations in this novel happen every day. Because too many of us are like one of the main characters, Allen, and we lack the courage to stand up and do something about it.It would be too easy to tell you to skip this book, because it's painful and it makes the reader examine their own lives to the microscopic level. It would be easy to ding it in the rating or the review because the subject matter makes the reader squirm with discomfort and anxiety. If it were poorly written, the reader could dismiss their discomfort by attributing it to the story's style or structure. Unfortunately, this book is brilliantly written. Part of it is the fact that the reader could step into any of the characters' shoes and imagine themselves becoming similar. Hero or villain or bystander, they are all so believable that I found myself becoming terrified that I could be, or had been any of them. All the elements are very subtle. Character, plot, setting. There is no gore, no over-the-top events, nothing unusual at all. Therein lies the genius of the novel. And while you are paying attention to what you think is the story, the real story creeps up around you, piles up with tiny hints and asides, until it caves in on you at the conclusion.
It would be easy to say this book is too hard, because it will break your heart. It would be easy to say it's not worth it, because although the ending is redemptive in some respects, nothing can undo what's gone before it. I can't say skip this book, it's too hard, it's not worth the heartache. Because it's one of the most worthwhile works of fiction I've read in a long, long time. It's made me examine my own relationships- not just with my kids, but with my own parents, with my neighbors, with my spouse. It's made me appreciate the life I have, the life I've been able to give to my children and how important it is not to stand silently by when something isn't right. Even, or especially, when I'm wondering if it's any of my business. And a book that can do that- how could that be something I was willing to skip?
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In the Shape of a Man eBook Paul Clayton Reviews
This was a grippingly sad book if that makes sense. I couldn't put it down. If you enjoy good writing with just a touch of the supernatural, or just like great literature in general, pick this one up. You won't be sorry.
Tina turns to Reynaldo, her six year old son. Leaning down to the frightened child, she hisses "I never wanted to adopt you." The little boy is scared; it's not just that mommy hates him but because her hate is getting worse. In the past she punished him simply by forcing him to sit for hours inside the garage for the 'crime' of waving goodbye to daddy. But now she's hitting him.
Then it is evening and Reynaldo's daddy, Allen, comes home from work. At the dinner table, Allen watches Tina punish the 'bad' Reynaldo again and again for insignificant 'sins', sees the loathing on her face for their son, and even hears her say she wants to send the boy back to the orphanage. Then Allen stands up...and goes into the living room to watch television.
As the title of the book makes clear, the father is only in the "shape" of a man. That is why this book is so hard to read. However, it is one you MUST read. Of all the stories of child abuse which I've read, Paul Clayton is one of the first writers I've encountered who possesses both the insight and the literary skill to make you understand the mindset of a parent who refuses to protect his child. His book makes you understand that evil exists not only because of what people like Tina do but just as importantly because of what people like Allen do NOT do. For that insight alone, this book is a "must" read.
I really didn't know what to expect when I began reading this beautifully written book by Paul Clayton. I could tell from the blurb that the book would be something different, and not any old beach read, or light reading, but I had no idea how the book would make me feel.
I was hooked from the first few pages. Clayton's prose is something to be savored. The characters seemed real and I cared about most of them. My only reason for giving the book four stars and not five, was that I was in tears more often than not while reading of the apathy of the man in question.
Apathy and indecision and just waiting, waiting, waiting until it's too late to help others, whether they be members of our own families, or just unknown human beings who share the world with us is one of the reasons this world in general, and America in particular are on the edge of descending into something unthinkable.
Up until the final chapter, I continued to hope that things would change. Knowing such behavior runs rampant in our world is something we should face up to, and, to the best of our ability, work hard to change.
Congratulations Paul Clayton, for this wonderful piece of art.
I think there is a point in every parent's life when you realize that for your own sanity, some literature is off limits to you. Maybe it's the first time you hold your child and you realize how vulnerable it is. Maybe it's the first time your child has an injury or a scary avoided accident and you understand that you, and only you, are truly responsible for keeping them safe. Or maybe it's when something terrible happens to someone else's child and you can't help imagining how much pain it would have caused you to be that child's parent. Whichever it is, at some point, you have to stop worrying about all the awful things that could happen to your children. So, you rule out certain stories, hoping that way you can at least stop worrying about the made-up dangers at least. Even when those stories are beautiful and complex and even redemptive. Nevil Shute's On the Beach is one. Cormac McCarthy's The Road is another. After reading In the Shape of a Man, I wish that I could say that this was one of those books too. But I can't, because unlike the events in On the Beach or The Road, the situations in this novel happen every day. Because too many of us are like one of the main characters, Allen, and we lack the courage to stand up and do something about it.
It would be too easy to tell you to skip this book, because it's painful and it makes the reader examine their own lives to the microscopic level. It would be easy to ding it in the rating or the review because the subject matter makes the reader squirm with discomfort and anxiety. If it were poorly written, the reader could dismiss their discomfort by attributing it to the story's style or structure. Unfortunately, this book is brilliantly written. Part of it is the fact that the reader could step into any of the characters' shoes and imagine themselves becoming similar. Hero or villain or bystander, they are all so believable that I found myself becoming terrified that I could be, or had been any of them. All the elements are very subtle. Character, plot, setting. There is no gore, no over-the-top events, nothing unusual at all. Therein lies the genius of the novel. And while you are paying attention to what you think is the story, the real story creeps up around you, piles up with tiny hints and asides, until it caves in on you at the conclusion.
It would be easy to say this book is too hard, because it will break your heart. It would be easy to say it's not worth it, because although the ending is redemptive in some respects, nothing can undo what's gone before it. I can't say skip this book, it's too hard, it's not worth the heartache. Because it's one of the most worthwhile works of fiction I've read in a long, long time. It's made me examine my own relationships- not just with my kids, but with my own parents, with my neighbors, with my spouse. It's made me appreciate the life I have, the life I've been able to give to my children and how important it is not to stand silently by when something isn't right. Even, or especially, when I'm wondering if it's any of my business. And a book that can do that- how could that be something I was willing to skip?
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