I don’t delve very often into the realm of biographies or nonfiction. Books are my escape pod; my chance to disappear from reality and send my imagination on impossible adventures, with typical vehicles ranging from science fiction and fantasy, to urban fantasy (yes, there is a difference) and manga.
But with anticipation building as we flesh out the plans for our visit from noted Cuban-American author Gustavo Pérez Firmat, the curiosity ninja struck! (Now, I know that age-old adage about curiosity killing the cat, but here’s what they don’t tell you: Satisfaction brought him back.)
Professional biographies don’t usually lend a lot of insight into the personality of an individual, so I picked up one of his books—Scar Tissue—from Amazon and decided to let his writing speak for himself.
In an attempt to avoid the cliché, “the book spoke to me,” let’s say instead that my choice, though random, was a result of picking the book with the most ambiguous title. (Ok, it was ambiguous to me as I didn’t read excerpts, reviews or synopses.)
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I know that Scar Tissue obliterated every half-formulated notion I had skittering around.
The book is a poetic chronicle of Gustavo’s struggle with prostate cancer and, more importantly, his journey to redefine and discover his sense of self.
I was expecting themes like anger, denial, pain and perseverance, but most amazing were the topics I didn’t expect: romance, humor, brutal honesty, sarcasm and beauty. I was moved. To tears. To laughter. To love. To triumph.
It’s not very often, if ever, that we get to see inside someone’s head. While reading about Gustavo’s journey through that valley filled with the shadow of death, I was Gustavo and I’m still not sure I’ve completely recovered.
