Out of Touch by Brandon Tietz – Pick up this novel now!
Man, I swear I posted up about Brandon‘s book when it came out. Bad label mate. SO, I’m posting up about it now.
I’ve read a lot of Brandon’s short stories, and have been very impressed with his work. Like a lot of Palahniuk fans, I avoided this book for awhile. Maybe I worried it would be a watered down Palahniuk or Ellis, something I would cringe at. It isn’t. I should have trusted my instincts about Brandon’s work and read this much sooner.
“Everyone is two people.”
Lacking the overt violence of American Psycho, but keeping all of the dysfunction, duality and superficiality, Out of Touch could indeed be the bastard love child of Ellis and Palahniuk. What at first seems like only surface, the shallow name brand dropping, the easy fix of coke and sex and booze and club hopping, evolves into a much more complicated character study, the evolution (or devolution) of Aidin.
Brandon does a great job of keeping the tone light, and humorous, while as the same time revealing the worst characteristics of humanity. We may hate Aidin, or we want to be him, but in time we sympathize, we empathize, and by the end of the book, are emotionally and mentally spent.
“…maybe you started something you shouldn’t have…”
This was a wonderful debut novel, really fun to read, captivating, an echo of Glamorama, and early Palahniuk, back when he didn’t suck so much. I look forward to his next book, and having read a good deal of it, I can honestly say that it will probably be even better than Out of Touch.
Brandon Tietz is an emerging author. He is somebody that you should keep your eye on. He hasn’t disappointed me yet.
- Richard Thomas - 