humor, loathing, and lessons

Second Hand: A Novel
Michael Zadoorian, © 2000
realistic fiction; 270 pages

I thought I would try and continue the theme of one-word titles for my posts, but I could not think of a fitting word to describe this book. However, I believe these three describe Zadoorian's first novel nicely.

This book is written from the perspective of a hipster who owns a junk store and is constantly searching for the next "cool" thing at a garage or estate sale. Besides junk, he deals with death, a crazy girlfriend, and his own self-loathing.

At first, I felt as if I could not identify with any of the protagonist's problems, but Zadoorian does an amazing job of developing his characters so that by the end of the book you are able to relate to the character and learn something from them or in the least realize that you have some of the same feelings about life. This is why Zadoorian is becoming one of my favorite authors. He reminds me that though people may look and act uniquely, we have more similarities than differences. I am comforted by the fact that there is common ground, we just have to search for it.

To conclude, here is my favorite sentence from the book, "...know that all of us have the authority to assign value, that we don't have to want the things we're told to want, that it's good to love that which seems to have no worth."

consider it