Title: Specimen Days
Author: Michael Cunningham
I was pretty skeptical when I started reading Specimen Days. In general, I don't like short stories, and I don't like science fiction. And the book, although three hundred pages in length, is really three novellas, loosely connected by Walt Whitman's epic poem Leaves of Grass. Prior to starting the novel, my only experiences with Leaves of Grass came from reading it in an American lit survey class in college and from watching With Honors a few too many times with my roommates. The only line I could recite was "I effuse my flesh in eddies" which I thought was very creative sexual wordplay unique to my situation.
So the other night, when we were lying in bed, Eddie asked me what the book I was reading was about. I felt sort of silly as I explained that it was the story of three people (Catherine, Simon and Lucas) who lived in all three stories. In the first story, all three are Irish immigrants living in New York during the height of the industrial revolution. The second story takes place in the near future. Cat is a black cop who profiles suicide bombers, Simon her white investment banker lover, and Lucas is one of the suicide bombers Cat should turn in. Finally, in the third story, Cat is a lizard from another planet, Simon is a droid with human qualities, and Lucas is a dwarf on the run.
I know, I know, it sounds weird. Really weird. I guess at times I thought the stories were weird. But Michael Cunningham seems to me to be one of the only authors who could pull off a set of stories like these and have the characters and their plights really be the focus. If you read and loved The Hours, you probably know what I mean. And you'll probably also appreciate (if not love) Specimen Days.
--originally published 11/11/06
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