The Visible Man

A Novel

By: Chuck Klosterman

Narrated by: Annabella Sciorra, Scott Shepherd

New York Times bestselling author of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and Downtown Owl, “the Ethicist” of the New York Times Magazine, Chuck Klosterman returns to fiction with his second novel—an imaginative page-turner about a therapist and her unusual patient, a man who can render himself invisible.

Therapist Victoria Vick is contacted by a cryptic, unlikable man who insists his situation is unique and unfathomable. As he slowly reveals himself, Vick becomes convinced that he suffers from a complex set of delusions: Y__, as she refers to him, claims to be a scientist who has stolen cloaking technology from an aborted government project in order to render himself nearly invisible. He says he uses this ability to observe random individuals within their daily lives, usually when they are alone and vulnerable. Unsure of his motives or honesty, Vick becomes obsessed with her patient and the disclosure of his increasingly bizarre and disturbing tales. Over time, it threatens her career, her marriage, and her own identity.

Interspersed with notes, correspondence, and transcriptions that catalog a relationship based on curiosity and fear, The Visible Man touches on all of Chuck Klosterman’s favorite themes—the consequence of culture, the influence of media, the complexity of voyeurism, and the existential contradiction of normalcy. Is this comedy, criticism, or horror? Not even Y__ seems to know for sure.

Timeless Concept, Modern Telling

The most interesting thing about this work is not the "invisible man" trope at all, it's the sociological bent - the sardonic and cynical but painfully accurate descriptions of everyday life that our antagonist tells his therapist about the people he's watched. There are some beautiful misanthropic hooks to the character and his observations of us when we are, we think, alone.

A Visible Masterpiece

With a voracious pacing and deft hand Klosterman delivers a surprising story full of his love of pop culture, his critique of importance, questions about the nature of man, and genuine thrills. As I began I thought I knew where the words were leading, and then Klosterman changed the game. As I continued I thought I knew what was coming next, and got thrown again. to the very end I couldn't predict the next line. This was a joy, and I can't wait to experience it again.

An engaging - and very disturbing - story...

I still don't know what to think about this book. I think there is a psychological/social message in here, but I didn't get it. Perhaps one has to understand the nature of therapy to understand what either of the main characters were intending to do.

Regardless, however, it was an original way to showcase a bunch of vignettes about various characters' lives without having to create a backstory or a point for their presence in the novel - i.e. Y could tell the story of any conceivable character (someone with an eating disorder, someone slightly nuts, someone with philosophical issues, etc) by just popping us into and out of a single scene - or set of scenes - as he detailed how he watched them while invisible.

That makes it sound like the book is choppy... it is not... well, perhaps the way Vick prefaces each section as a cover letter to an editor is a bit choppy... but the way the stories are told flow relatively normally (it helps that each story Y tells has no relation to the next story he tells, so you are not looking for the connection).

What I didn't like, and didn't understand, is the romantic component of the novel (and I use the term romantic very loosely). I am not sure if this is because I am not familiar with (and am not sure I accept) the concept of transference of emotion to one's therapist (and, anyway, this doesn't explain *her* attraction to Y).

Actually, now that I think more about it, maybe the relationship was doomed to turn into what it turned into just by the very nature of Y being the way he was. I think the ending was quite fitting, and I can't think how it could have been better ended... after all, Y is a bad man, regardless of how much protesting he does.

The narration is very good. There is no sex or gore or foul language. I didn't find any part of the story to be humorous - Y was a bit too sociopathic to be funny.

Different and Deep

Would you listen to The Visible Man again? Why?

Yes. The style is engaging and the performance is perfect.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Both characters were drawn with care.

Insightful and occasionally pretentious

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, but probably only certain friends. Klosterman is entertaining but he uses the book for long diatribes on philosophy, psychology, and sociology that some readers may find pretentious, or at the very worst, boring. However, I think there are some insightful, thought-provoking discussions that bubble up on occasion that make you stop and think.

If you’ve listened to books by Chuck Klosterman before, how does this one compare?

Having read "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" and being thoroughly entertained cover to cover, this title piqued my interest as I wanted to see how Klosterman would fare in the fiction arena. This book captures his same penchant for social and cultural commentary, wrapped in a story, with some clever plot devices.

What about Annabella Sciorra and Scott Shepherd ’s performance did you like?

This book was the first I've heard with two narrators. It really brought the back-and-forth between Vicky and Y to life as they are polar opposites in the beginning (or at least portrayed as such).

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

At first no, but near the end as the tension builds and you are unsure of Y's next move, the story is hard to put down.