2024 BOOK REVIEW #22: EARLY WORK BY ANDREW MARTIN

I recently read a short story by Andrew Martin and was delighted by how precise he was in describing early, tumultuous, sloppy relationships from within the criss-crossing brains of his protagonists.

This prompted me to buy a used copy of Early Work published in 2018, which did not disappoint. It took me back to my roller coaster 20s, with every day and every night lived on a dangerous knife’s edge, with quickly evolving emotions, actions sometimes to be regretted, and sudden escapes often needed.

Working on different shifts in a couple, or toward different goals can always create an imbalance, as it does in the life of Peter Cunningham, often stoned and drunk, illegally streaming sports, teaching classes at a local women’s prison, walking his needy dog, and living without much of any ideological, financial or spiritual constraints besides a love of high art.

Meeting an adventurer with even more recklessness and repartee than he has, who additionally has more wherewithal to write, opens new doors and traps, leaving a more stable and forward looking cohabitating girlfriend caught inside too much predictability.

Martin’s attention to detail, dialogue and what drives intellectual, overthinking types is unrivaled in any book I’ve read recently in French or English.

It’s full of references to books including to one of my favorites Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. Often times after a wild night, or in the middle of one, the characters in this book surprisingly give themselves the time and energy to read.

“Early Work” is a wonderful metaphor for messy relationships, as well as the attempts of his writing protagonists and his own inquisitive, superbly crafted pre-pandemic malaise documentation of post college young Americans pushing back the realities of adulting and aging as far as they can.