PAUL NEILAN -- APATHY AND OTHER SMALL VICTORIES

Paul Neilan's debut novel is masterfully crafted and character-driven and reads more like a veteran work than a first-time effort. Neilan's fictional account of the ultimate apathetic life of a twentysomething named Shane, and the forces of life enacted upon him, is comical and unique. Loaded with pop-culture references, Apathy avoids the usual clichés while still maintaining easy accessibility to its biting, ironic subtext. Characters -- like a dentist who experiences "episodes," his deaf hygienist cheating on her husband and a girlfriend who shoehorns Shane into a temporary alphabetizing position with the hopes that he'll soon desire a climb on the corporate ladder -- salt this story without leaving the reader thirsty. Satire and an acute wit combine but never cross the imaginary hyperbolic line into fantasy. Apathy is similar in many thematic and situational ways to the movie Office Space, but where the latter branches off toward the absurd this story and its characters remain true to the apathetic cause. Shane's character grows and changes through the events he experiences, but never enough to motivate him to change the course of his life. Ultimately, just as he has done his entire life, he moves on via Greyhound bus to the next series of events to happen to him. This is one of the finest examinations I've read of the daily machine we're part of and the indifference we show our own desires and needs. Given the short space, this review barely begins give Apathy the credit it deserves. It's a fabulous book and a must-read, especially if you think your life sucks. (Tad Yoke) Grade: A