Chris Belden

3.75 stars. this wasn't what i'd expected, but this was a fun, sometimes funny, look at identity and what makes a person who they are. it takes place at a literary convention, and the author throws some shade at the industry (while not changing my love for them one iota). who is shriver? is he his book? is he his past? is he right now? what if those things contradict? can we know people if we don't know their past? can we know ourselves? what is reality and what is illusion (the name of the conference). this is light and breezy while talking about much deeper and more serious things. and it's well written and interesting, and a page-turner.

the names of the authors and faculty were a bit over the top for me, but otherwise i thought this was fun, and a good romp. i thought the "mystery," as such, was going to be who killed the poet (who wasn't dead at all), but if there is one, it's really who is shriver? and i think the answer might very well be that he is the man he is pretending to be. it seems like he'd remember that, so maybe not, but we know so little about his past that i think it works.… (altro)

What would it be like to be mistaken for someone famous? This novel explores that situation with the added attraction that the famous person is a reclusive writer (think of Salinger) and the person who is the subject of the mistake is also an author who, fortunately or not, has nothing in common with the reclusive celebrity other than his name. The unfortunate protagonist is invited to writers' conference and, against his better judgment, decides to attend. He appears to be succeeding in his unlikely impersonation, but just as things start to calm down he becomes involved in unexpected and certainly unintended episodes. First, one of the other guest authors disappears, and he becomes the central subject of the investigation; second, a journalist begins to take an interest in him that makes him very uncomfortable; and third, to complicate his life further he begins to fall in love with the conference organizer.

With the addition of some other quirky characters including a stalker, the story is complex enough to provide the reader with entertainment and mirth. While it is fairly lightweight, the spirited narrative has all the best characteristics of an off-beat romantic comedy and contains just enough whimsy to keep the reader focused through to the end.… (altro)

Another library sale find for fifty cents. And it was a bargain at that price. Never heard of Chris Belden, but he's a pretty decent writer, although the storyline itself isn't all that deep. SHRIVER is the title character, a timid recluse who, perhaps mistakenly, receives an invitation to be the keynote speaker at a literary conference at a small western college. Seems there is (also?) a very famous reclusive (Salinger-like) writer who has not been heard from in twenty years.

In any case, Shriver, for whatever reasons, decides to go to the conference, even though he feels he's masquerading. But IS he? That's kinda the central premise of the book. Almost no background is given on our Shriver, so you immediately begin to wonder if there's some kind of amnesia at work here. But that's just my take on it. The book rollicks along like a comedy of errors with a whole cast of colorful characters with weird names like Professors Cleverly and Wahtzesname (Whatshisname), twins named Charlevoix and Sue St Marie, other writers named Basil Rather and Zebra Amphetamine, a Detective Krampus, a wannabe writer/fan named Delta Malarkey-Jones, and on and on. Much spoofing of literary conferences, author readings and signings, etc. An academic farce, okay? Author Richard Russo called it that, and I did think of his book, STRAIGHT MAN, his own lone 'academic farce.'

The story is a comedy, okay? And there's nothing very profound or deep here. It reads like a movie. And it was fun; kept me turning the pages and wondering what kinda stupid stuff would happen next. Of course you'll think of Salinger, or maybe Pynchon, but Belden is not in the same league with either one. Another obscure book that kept coming to my own mind as I read SHRIVER, was John Colapinto's fine novel, ABOUT THE AUTHOR, which I read a few years back. But that one IS a little more substantive and gets a lot more serious before it's over. This one is kinda like a Rock and Doris romantic comedy. I enjoyed it. But I would call it more of an "entertainment" than real literature. So if you want a funny, kinda mystery, kinda romance, kinda comedy sorta book to pass some time, okay, I'll recommend it. (three and a half stars)

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER… (altro)