Book Report: Brendan Wolf

Brendan Wolf
by Brian Malloy

Description:
Who is Brendan Wolf? It all depends on who you ask.

* To the staff of a Minneapolis nursing home, he's the devoted partner of a much older man who's recently suffered a debilitating stroke.

* To the women of a conservative, Christian pro-life organization, he's the tireless volunteer grieving over the recent loss of his wife and their unborn child.

* To one gay activist, he's the unaffectedly charming, yet directionless and unemployed man that he's fallen hopelessly in love with

* To his brother and his brother's wife, he's the lynchpin of a scam that will net them enough money to start their lives over somewhere new.

* To the general public, he's an armed and dangerous fugitive

All of these people - and yet none of them - Brendan Wolf is an ambivalent lover, reluctant conspirator, counterfeit Christian, and, most of all, an unemployed daydreamer obsessed with a dead man.




First sentence:
Brendan is in the park on what those assembled are calling a glorious day: the sky is clear blue without even the wisp of a cloud, the temperature is hot but not oppressive, and there is a soft breeze that gently sways the branches of the trees overhead, creating an agreeable rustling sound.

This story is very much a character journey, a sort of coming-of-(middle)aged story as Brendan Wolf (a pseudonym chose for himself inspired by Chris McCandless's 'Alexander Supertramp') finds the meaning of love amidst the mess that his life is quickly becoming. Dangerously close to losing yet another mimimum-wage job, Brendan is about to become homeless. Chapter one sees him riding the bus to visit his brother, an inmate soon to be released after surving time for swindling the elderly out of their savings. Ian, aware of Brendan's predicament, gives Brendan the address of an elderly man with a hunger for young men, pampering them in return for relations. Although turned off by the proposition, Brendan soon has no choice. He arrives on the old man's front step, single suitcase (filled mostly with well-loved books) and proposes to act as the man's servant (sans the sex) in exchange for a room. When Marv insists on that one small detail, things turn sour. Brendan tries to blackmail Marv, threatening to tell the cops of the old man's deeds. Marv relents, barely, and when Brendan returns home from work one day, he finds the locks have been changed and Marv has burned all of Brendan's treasured books. Enraged, the two get into an arguement. But before they can come to blows, Marv drops from a stroke.

At first guilt keeps Brendan at Marv's side. He lets the hospital staff mistake him for Marv's 'next of kin'--the inmate now locked up with Brendan's brother. Marv cannot talk to tell the truth, and in fact can't do much of anything. Brendan has time to figure things out.

Meanwhile, Brendan's brother Ian is released from jail and he and his wife are cooking up a scheme to steal pledge money from a pro-life group on the day of their big marathon. To pull off this intricately designed job, they need Brendan's help. Soon Brendan finds himself volunteering at the organization, stuffing envelopes under the sad alibi of a recently-widowed man who lost his beautiful wife during childbirth. He is quickly taken under the wings of the 'gals' who volunteer, and one of them even tries to set Brendan up with her daughter, unknowing that Brendan is really gay.

Lies and deceit are a common motiff in this story, as Brendan develops many different names and stories to suit his purposes. He's longing for love, still hurting after the recent break-up, and finds solace in books--constantly referring to Chris McCandless, or Brian's idealized version of him. These lies ultimately bring about his demise, as it becomes impossible to keep each thread of his life from tangling. For all his efforts to protect himself, in the end Brendan still 'gets what was coming to him'--only by this time, he is ready to change, to accept love and give honesty, tragically after the curtain has fallen.

My only complaint would be that at times, this story seemed a little long. But because of this book I discovered 'Into the Wild', and for that, I am most appreciative.

Four out of five stars for characterization, simple and relaxing prose, an eye for detail and writing the ending that needed to be written.