A Short Film About Disappointment

Starred review from June 4, 2018
A movie critic certain no one reads his reviews fills them with details of his personal life in this sharp, funny debut set in America’s Central Hub some time in the future. Narrating reviews (there are 80 in total) instead of chapters, Noah Body begins with a critique of Having, Not Having, Being, Not Being, a film he sees while hiding in a theater from a man he has angered. Noah’s strong opinions and acerbic humor, though entertaining to the reader, undermine his own personal relationships, including the burgeoning romance with a doctor he consults because he believes himself possessed by his ex–best friend. Noah also dreams about writing, directing, and starring in his own movie. Contemporary cinema still features vampires, monsters, heists, crime family melodramas, and historical dramas such as Unsurfable, which depicts how most of the world’s data and wealth were erased. Noah envisions his own film in the Renaissance and sets about trying to get it actually made. With weapons-grade wit, Mattson satirizes movies, reviewers, and life in the data age. Even the almost-touching scene when robotic AlmostPerson Lawrence observes a sunset ends in edgy irony. Mattson’s exhilarating novel is rife with ingenious humor and inventiveness.

Like the disembodied voice of a movie trailer, Ari Fliakos's deep and raspy voice draws listeners into this quirky yet melancholy story. Noah Body is a film critic in a future dystopia in which life is no better than the mind-numbing films he reviews. Performing the Sisyphean task of reviewing all the films no one wants to watch or read about, Noah infuses his reviews with commentary about his own life as he tries to dispossess himself of his ex-wife's lover, perpetuate a petty feud with an unnecessary nemesis, woo his doctor, and make a "real film." Fliakos uses a straightforward tone that contrasts with ridiculous situations, giving a sense of normalcy while also portraying the unfiltered reactions of the story's characters--or victims, as the case may be. L.E. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine