Self-Portrait of Someone Else
Tim Buckles appearsto be leading a normal life.
He works as alifeguard; he has a girlfriend.
Yet he also has hispast.
Psychologists arestudying him.
People are startingto drown in his pool.
Alisa, hisgirlfriend, is pregnant and moves in with him.
The business worldbegins training him for its own ends.
His father isslowly dying under his care.
His boss has beenassaulted.
The police haveissued an all-point bulletin.
Tim Buckles appearsto be leading a normal life.
As someone else.
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http://www.youtube.com/user/VincentEatonStoriesThe Story Behind This Book
From the New York Times Sunday Review: Vincent Eaton's dark, angry and intense first novel uses police documents, psychological evaluations, interviews, straight narration and interior monologues to chronicle the self-destruction of Tim Buckles. At 28, Buckles appears at first to be leading a normal life. He has a steady job as a lifeguard, a bungalow in Los Angeles and a loving girlfriend named Alisa. The problem is, he feels as if he's living someone else's life. When Alisa becomes pregnant, she encourages him to take a job in her father's business. Tim's feelings of alienation escalates. A drowning and then a disastrous visit to his elderly parents, who have become more miserable with the years, push Tim over the edge. ** “...striking first novel.... ...the devastating consequences of Tim's traumatic family dynamics, captured powerfully in dialogue and brief vignettes, provide a powerfully destructive counter force, with devastating consequences. Eaton's harsh, unsparing tale jolts the reader, holding us uncomfortably close to Tim's commingled criminal insanity and humanity. o Publisher's Weekly From Publisher's Weekly “...striking first novel.... The devastating consequences of Tim's traumatic family dynamics, captured powerfully in dialogue and brief vignettes, provide a powerfully destructive counter force... ...unsparing tale jolts the reader, holding us uncomfortably close to Tim's commingled criminal insanity and humanity. From Bridgeport Post Mr. Eaton concocts a puzzle out of a depraved childhood, multiple murder mysteries, flashbacks, hallucinations, a love story and self-analysis. ...a brave literary debut about an intelligent man who, struggling to understand and control his rage at his past, ''realizes himself away”.
