“An explosive, shapeshifting piece of literary real estate, Amber Tamblyn’s arresting debut offers a scathing portrait of American celebrity culture and the way in which it transmutes human tragedy into a vicious circus; victims are forgotten as likes and shares swirl, and ‘news’ becomes a squalid orgy, a lurid feast. Tamblyn takes every risk in this astonishing and innovative work, and succeeds, … work, and succeeds, gloriously.”
— Janet Fitch, bestselling author of The Revolution of Marina M. and Paint It Black
Vanity Fair’s Summer Ultimate Fiction List
Entertainment Weekly Summer Preview List
In this electric and provocative debut novel, Tamblyn blends genres of poetry, prose, and elements of suspense to give shape to the shocking narratives of victims of sexual violence, mapping the destructive ways in which our society perpetuates rape culture.
A violent serial rapist is on the loose, who goes by the name Maude. She hunts for men at bars, online, at home— the place doesn’t matter, neither does the man. Her victims then must live the aftermath of their assault in the form of doubt from the police, feelings of shame alienation from their friends and family and the haunting of a horrible woman who becomes the phantom on which society projects its greatest fears, fascinations and even misogyny. All the while the police are without leads and the media hound the victims, publicly dissecting the details of their attack.
What is extraordinary is how as years pass these men learn to heal, by banding together and finding a space to raise their voices. Told in alternating viewpoints signature to each voice and experience of the victim, these pages crackle with emotion, ranging from horror to breathtaking empathy.
As bold as it is timely, Any Man paints a searing portrait of survival and is a tribute to those who have lived through the nightmare of sexual assault.
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Riveting, horrifying, exceptional. Part of the genius of this book is that it sheds light on the trauma of all survivors of sexual assault, by giving vivid and intimate portrayals of those survivors that we are most prone to forget — men. I don’t read poetry, and not a lot of experimental fiction, but the parts of this book that employed those devices felt perfectly right, and allowed me to get inside the heads of the characters as they wrestle with the aftermath–both privately and publicly–of one of the most intimate of assaults that human beings can suffer. I felt incredible sympathy for each of them, and sadness at what they lost. Amber Tamblyn is an incredible talent. This book is not an easy read, however, and punches you in the gut almost immediately, so … tread carefully. This is NOT light fiction, neither in its subject matter nor its execution.
Not understanding the hype
Wow. This book! Amber Tamblyn took a hard subject and wrote an amazing book. When I came across this book I had been following the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard case. I knew men could be victimized. I was a victim of domestic violence and then took a 40 hour training. My eyes were opened during that training. I thought a lot about how we see domestic violence in this country. There were no shelters for men to go to. Fathers had no support in taking their children and going somewhere safe for even a night, just to get theirselves together. When I asked why, I was told men could afford a hotel. Some men maybe but certainly not all. If we go by that some women could afford a hotel. Pressing the issue, I was told men could go to a homeless shelter, they didn’t need to take their children with. I didn’t understand those reasons any more than they could afford a hotel. But I was encouraged by the fact that men were included in my training. Over the years, I have come across a few male victims. I listened to them and tried to help. I always felt there were many more, the silent ones. This book is not about domestic violence. It is about victims of sexual crimes.
When I read the synopsis of this book, I was extremely curious. It was written by a female, an actress. I wondered how she would handle men as victims. Very few believed Johnny Depp. I didn’t hear all of Hollywood supporting him. I still don’t in the face of staggering evidence. So I was very interested in what Amber Tamblyn had to write.
She wrote a searing, can’t put down, novel. I thought she did a phenomenal job portraying the victims. The pain and the shame they lived with, all the victims. The bravery of the male victims in speaking out. It is a very thought provoking book. A book we should be reading and talking about. I don’t think it will be in most book clubs though. The subject matter is not one we openly talk about. It’s still the dirty secret. It needs to be spoken about. Victims are victims. They need support. They need to be believed.
We say we want equality but doesn’t that mean we want the rules to be the same regardless of sex, race or religion? Doesn’t that mean we need to accept that a victim can be any one of us? The perpetrator can be any one of us? This book has the potential to open up dialogue about supporting victims. Women, men, adult, child, any race or religion. In her use of different men, including a male child, Ms Tamblyn brings this message home. Her final victim plays an important part in this. We need to start accepting, start supporting, start talking and find the solution to start healing all the victims. Read this book. Think about it. Talk about it.
To be honest, I got this because I was a fan of General Hospital, it was written by the original Emily (whom I loved) and the blurb was intriguing. It was more than I bargained for. A deep topic. A book that I think everyone needs to read, but one that many wouldn’t be able to get through. There were parts that made me squeamish, others broke my heart and others still made me angry. As I believe was the intention of the author. This was so much more than anything I expected.
Awful!
I could not get past the first 10 pages.
This is a beautifully written book. It is a very tough subject, so not a fun read. But the author has such an original voice, powerful, lyrical, that I just kept truning the page. Once I finished, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and tellinp others to read it. The writing stays with you.
I didn’t think much of this book. Struggled through it to finish it. Not my cup of tea. Didn’t like the writing style.
Do not waste your time or money on this book! I flipped through most of it! In my opinion, it was totally disjointed.