To be somebody

I was midway into Kelly McClorey's impressive debut novel Nobody, Somebody, Anybody before I read the dust jacket and saw that it is "laugh-out-loud funny." I hadn't noticed.

I didn't laugh, or even smile, at any point in this book, but I was certainly moved, even saddened.

The story is narrated by Amy Hanley, a young woman working a summer job as a chambermaid at the Yacht Club. Unlike a yacht, she lacks an anchor. Her mother died recently. She has no close friends, no boyfriend, no permanent job, no confidence. She greatly admires Florence Nightingale, whom she quotes frequently as if her words were Scripture. She is training to become an EMT, but she has twice failed the final exam and is running out of chances. She thinks of herself, as the title suggests, as a Nobody.

During the course of the novel, Amy hardly ever makes a good choice. She steams open her landlord's mail and sees that he plans to go to Ukraine to find a bride. She resentfully destroys property belonging to a co-worker. To give herself more self-esteem, she sends a congratulation letter to herself, praising her for passing the EMT test, and then tells others about receiving the letter. She thinks of this lie as perhaps having a placebo effect, giving her enough confidence to actually pass the test. What it does, of course, is to add to the pressure

She begins to feel like Somebody when Gary, her landlord, invites her to his apartment to sample his cooking and to help him prepare his home for the arrival of Irina from Ukraine. The growing friendship with Gary fools her into thinking she can replace the other woman in Gary's heart. Gary is certainly no prize, but she is that desperate

By the end of the novel, Amy decides to reinvent herself. She's willing to become Anybody, as long as it isn't Amy Hanley.

There's nothing funny, or even amusing, about people giving in to self-destructive impulses, but Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is nevertheless engaging and, in its low-key way, even powerful. It reminds us that the world is full of Amy Hanleys, those who want so much to be Somebody, at least to Someone, that they are willing to settle for Anybody.

The recent case of the Alabama corrections officer who helped a murder suspect escape and then ran off with him provides an example.