It's obvious from the very beginning of "Anthropology of an American Girl" that author Hilary Thayer Hamann understands growing up from a young woman's perspective.
"Of course being female is always somewhat indelicate and extreme, like operating heavy machinery," says a teenage Eveline, the continually endearing narrator of Hamann's newest novel, which will hit stores May 25.
The novel, which chronicles Eveline's life from adolescence to her early 20s, clocks in at over 600 pages, but manages to avoid feeling slow or repetitive. Rather, Eveline's voice remains magnetic throughout, resulting in a page-turner (I finished the tome in just two days) that still has plenty of beautiful details for readers to relish.
Divided into seven sections, "American Girl" defines Eveline's life through her relationships with three different men. Although Eveline's fixation on men may be irritating to some readers, to most it will come off as unflinchingly honest and raw. While Eveline relies on men throughout the novel, she is by no means a door mat.
The first section of "American Girl" describes Eveline's first serious relationship with her classmate Jack, which leads her to grow apart from her best friend. Everything changes, however, when Eveline meets substitute teacher Harisson Rourke. In Eveline's words, "My preference for [Rourke] was unconditional, absolute feral, as Jack would have said, the type of choice animals make."
The rest of the novel centers on Harrison and Eveline's relationship, detailing its dissolution after Eveline starts her undergraduate career at New York University and depicting Eveline's inability to move past the relationship even as she engages in a new one.
Precocious, beautiful, cynical and a little lost, Eveline reminded me of Claire Danes in the 1990s teen drama "My So-Called Life." Both the novel and the show take young women and discuss potentially stereotypical issues namely, relationships with men in an entirely unstereotypical way. "My So-Called Life" is not just about how hot Jordan Catalano is (although he, like, totally is). Both it and "American Girl" are much too intelligent for that. Instead, they explore and explain the subtleties of growing up, and are relatable enough to make reading or watching either a joy.
Now, we've established that young women will like this book. But what about men? Eveline's 600 pages of introspection may be a bit much for the average guy to handle, but it's certainly worth giving a try. The novel could give men a helpful glimpse into how we women really think I think Eveline offers one of the best portraits you could ask for. And if that's not enough to convince you, there's also a fair deal of sex.
The summary of the novel on the book's back cover compares Eveline to the likes of Holden Caulfield a valid comparison, given the novel's exploration of the Salingerian theme of "phoniness," even though Hamann never explicitly mentions the word.
While I don't foresee Eveline rising to the same level of recognizability as Holden Hamann's writing is simply not as good as Salinger's the comparison is a fair one. Readers will surely enjoy the musings of Eveline, and will likely see their own adolescence reflected in her story.
