Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar and Insignificant Others by Stephen McCauley

By Vaughn Frantz Miller

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

I hope I convince you to read this book.

I have mulled over the wording of this review, trying to figure out the best ways to convey the plenary of topics this book covers, the emotions it elicits, its beauty, and its honesty.

Unfortunately, I am not nearly the author Kaveh Akbar is.

“An alphabet, like a life, is a finite set of shapes. With it, one can produce almost anything.”

What is the price of great art? What is its purpose? Kaveh Akbar explores these and many other questions of art and life in his phenomenal book Martyr!. A lost young man, Cyrus Shams, tries to find meaning in the lives and deaths of his parents, his uncle, heroes of the past, and even himself. As he goes along, he meets a famous artist who is living her final exhibit, Death-Speak, in which she chats with museum attendees while dying of terminal cancer.

The two have an instant connection: one a woman with terminal cancer and nothing to lose with her honesty, the other a young man obsessed with death. Cyrus is fixated on how to ensure a death and that life itself matters. Both Iranian, their few chats pivot Cyrus as he explores history, meaning, art, and life.

The narrative voice changes between characters, at times stark and punchy. Yet you don’t feel jetlagged bouncing between minds and years (1990s, early 2000s, 2010s, 2020s), because you, as the reader, are fluidly transported into a specific moment in time, with a specific person. And as each character shares a sliver of their narration, the entire story unfolds.

It’s got a great plot twist near the end that guarantees a need to reread the book. I admire how Akbar was able to so naturally switch tones and syntax to create the voice of a young woman, a traumatized soldier, a quiet father, a hopeless best friend, and a young man recovering from addiction and struggling to find meaning and presence in his everyday life.

Cyrus is a deeply flawed character, and he is adored by his best friend, Zee. The two move about their love in a silent and avoidant manner. It is a yearning beat in the background of the book as chapters move between an homage to Bobby Sands, a story of a poet whose couplets built a bridge for his village, Cyrus’s mother, his father, his uncle, his dreams.

This book will probably make you cry. Its ending is beautiful, though I cannot say it is necessarily happy. I bought this book by recommendation, and I am so glad that I have a copy to read and reread again.

There are 56 copies of this book in San Diego Public Libraries (80 if you include eBooks, audiobooks, and large print). As of writing this article, all copies

are checked out, and there is a backlog of over 100 requests for people to read and borrow Martyr!. While it is worth the wait, I’d highly encourage you to buy your own copy to read and reread at your leisure.

Insignificant Others by Stephen McCauley 

Stephen McCauley explores what happens when the rules and permissions of an open relationship are implicit, and hard conversations are avoided.

“Men, trained and encouraged to keep their emotions bottled up and to suppress their enthusiasm for anything other than contact sports, are often adept at compartmentalizing their lives, rationalizing their indiscretions, and, of course, lying.”

Insignificant Others gives readers a look into Richard Rossi’s life as he juggles his career, his lover, and his partner of many years. Of the many couples I’ve met who have some degree of ethical non-monogamy, Richard and his partner Conrad have one of the messier arrangements.

I enjoyed being frustrated and annoyed with the narrator. It’s a peculiar art form, writing an engaging book with a character the reader knows they’d never get along with. I’m glad I read it. It was fun to read a low stakes perspective of a man who reexamines every aspect of his life and relationships, and makes genuine change to construct his life more centered around his loved ones.

One thing I appreciate about our community is that, by having to envision a life outside of convention, we often end up reexamining the traditional structures of romantic relationships. We find what works for us, just as the characters in this book do.

There are only five copies of Insignificant Others available to borrow from San Diego Public Libraries, so be sure to reserve yours soon.