Harmless Like You

November 28, 2016
At the onset of Buchanan’s debut, a son shows up at the doorstep of his mother, Yuki, in Berlin after a 30-year separation. Jay’s there to settle Yuki’s inheritance—a house in Connecticut—after his father is killed in a car accident. The story of what prompted Yuki to abandon her family, as well as the details of Jay’s life as a New York gallery owner and recent father, unspool in sections stretching from 1968 to the present. Some parts are more effective than others. After her parents move back to Japan when she’s 16 and leave her in America, Yuki’s push to find love and purpose as an artist takes on a myopic urgency that teeters toward mania. It’s therefore no surprise that she drops out of school, stays in an abusive relationship too long before marrying Jay’s doting father, and becomes a suburban mother, all with creativity-crushing consequences. In contrast, Jay’s ineptitude—at staying loyal to his wife, caring for his “inarticulate pink flesh-sack” of a baby, and facing his emotions—reads like a series of temper tantrums. When mother and son bond over Jay’s ailing cat in Berlin, the union feels too easy given the depth of their estrangement. Still, Buchanan has a knack for mining the murky depths of what it means to identify as an artist, parent, and lover. The journey is sometimes tender, often agonizing—and everything in between.

This debut audiobook features a unique look at characters who are simply trying to figure out who they are and how they might find some purpose and joy in life. Shifts in time and viewpoint present listening challenges, but easily identifiable characters, and clear and crisply paced performances from both narrators provide skillful guidance. Narrator Emily Woo Zeller captures the angst of young Japanese transplant Yuki, who struggles to fit into the New York City art scene and then into the suburban world of a housewife in the 1960s and '70s. P.J. Ochlan's portrayal of Yuki's son, Jay, is a bit wooden initially but gains intensity and animation as family challenges cause him to mature. Buchanan's gifts for lyrical description and nuanced character development, ably presented by Zeller and Ochlan, create an appealing audiobook. M.O.B. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine