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Lunch » Tags » Books » Reviews » The Double Life of Alfred Buber » User review

Forbidden love, secret lies and a search for identity

  • Jun 8, 2011
Rating:
+4

Alfred Buber grew up in Rhodesia and moved to the States as a young man, displaced by the troubles and seeking a university education. He sees himself as no-one special, somewhat short, somewhat clumsy, somewhat bald. But he’s intelligent and, despite his unpromising start, he’s doing rather well. In fact, he may even be rich, though still a little lonely.
Alfred Buber never quite fit in, not as a Jewish child in Rhodesia, not as school-friend of the half-Asian misfit Rosalind, not as law student helping an Asian girl who can’t quite keep up, and not as the staid, conservative Mr. Buber, pillar of company and community. Alfred’s father sent him to a foreign land; his mother moved back to England; his “guardian” never really seemed to guard him very much; and Alfred’s not even sure what his dreams are, except that they remain unfulfilled.
In an effort to appease the self that dreams his dreams, Alfred Buber goes to Bangkok where a sweet young bargirl offers her "services," and he falls in love. Except Alfred Buber, pillar of the community, really can’t dream of bringing such a person home. Except Alfred Buber, dreamer of great dreams, most certainly must.
Two worlds collide, as surely as they did back in Rhodesia when it changed to Zimbabwe, as surely as they did when young Alfred first arrived in America. What’s real, what’s imagined, what’s public, what’s secret, all jostle for first place in Alfred’s thoughts. And a man who’s hidden his identity in an effort to fit in just might end up revealing all in this very tightly written “memoir” of his life.
There’s sweet comedy, tragedy, fine observation of small-town life, absorbing descriptions of exotic locations, poverty, love, hope and guilt in this book. But above all, there’s life, in the words and the characters and story, and in the feelings left behind in the reader as the final page turns.
 
Disclosure: I was lucky enough to receive a bound galley of this book from The Permanent Press in exchange for an honest review.

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About the reviewer
Sheila Deeth ()
Ranked #64
Sheila Deeth is the author of Refracted--how a man lost in time tries to remember what he's looking for--and Black Widow--Boudicca's sister, the might of Rome, and the Holy Grail--both published … more
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Wiki

"[R]eads like a lost Nabokov novel. Stylistically, the prose is meticulously wrought, the plot deeply complex and psychologically layered...  An excellent read and a gripping character study."  --Small Press Reviews

"[A] florid, loquacious portrait of a man whose vices threaten to get the better of him ... [and] an unusual morality play whose artful style veils the depravity of its protagonist." --Kirkus Reviews

David Schmahmann has created a character with the vividness of J. Alfred Prufrock or Humbert Humbert. Buber's obsessions and the carefully-guarded secret life he leads not only make for a compelling novel, they tell us much about a very widespread and hauntingly ordinary form of deceit. ---Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha

Alfie Buber is as great a comic character as Nok is a tragic one, and their intertwined story reveals truths about poverty, loneliness, and our often misguided attempts at love. ---Daphne Kalotay, author of
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ISBN-10: 1579622186
ISBN-13: 978-1579622183
Author: David Schmahmann
Publisher: Permanent Press

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"Forbidden love, secret lies and a search for identity"
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