Jacob Rubin

I received an uncorrected proof of The Poser, so changes may have been made to this book since publication.

The Poser centers on Giovanni Bernini, a boy from a seaside town with a talent for impersonation. He doesn’t perform caricatures of people, but has found a way to become them, with the pull of their ‘thread.’ His talent brings him both fame and misfortune, and the book chronicles this in sections, each named after the man that affected him most during that specific time.

While The Poser does not make it to my favorites’ list, I really enjoyed the premise. In writing about impressions, Rubin gave a lot of detail about the characters. It made it really easy to fully imagine the supporting cast in my head. However (though this was probably intentional) I was never able to fully envision what Giovanni looked like. I was always imagining the story simply through his eyes, without ever seeing him.

I liked the final section, Orphels, the most. I felt like I got to know more about a character who is constantly impersonating other characters. I would be interested to see what changes, if any, were made between the uncorrected proof and the final published copy.… (altro)