52 Men

by Louise Wareham Leonard

52 fictionalized episodes with men. “Simple and ingenious . . . gets at the truth of how we experience, perceive, and remember romantic encounters.” —Los Angeles Review of Books   From a writer who master poet Seamus Heaney described as one “who risks much both stylistically and emotionally” comes 52 Men. Taut, spare and highly compressed autobiographical fiction for the mobile age, it is immensely funny and sexually charged.   In contemporary literary miniatures from a few lines to a few pages, Manhattan-raised Elise McKnight describes the men in her life who gradually reveal high-profile cultural leaders, writers and celebrities, as well as the down-to-earth waiter, student and police officer. Fifty-two strange, romantic and sexual interludes and relationships spark to life and disappear in the wind, leaving the reader always What is Elise’s power? What does she want and will she ever get it? Does she have a secret and if so, what is it?   With surprising, sometimes shocking and moving cameos by figures from tabloids and the Jay Carney, Jonathan Franzen, Lou Reed, Michael Stipe; and encounters with artists, financiers, and a boxer who reads Neruda at the Turkish baths.   “I’m not sure I’ve ever read a story of a life that’s both so moving and told with such breathtaking economy and precision. 52 Men gave me goose bumps again and again.” —Kurt Andersen, New York Times–bestselling author of Evil Geniuses “A haunting and haunted book . . . harsh and sweet and very funny, in spots as hard to read as it is hard to put down.” —Will Eno, playwright and author of Thom Pain (based on nothing)

Genres: Memoir

119 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2015

About the author

FIERY WORLD: girl meets Acheron -- God and River of Woe in Hades -- and journeys with him from grief to faith. With a focus on the language of flowers, myths about girls turned to trees -- and reasons to believe.

My all time favorite books are The Enchanted Wood, 03 (Valtat) W or Memory of Childhood (Perec) How German Is It (Abish) All for Nothing (Kempowski), The Tanners (Walser), Charlie Smith, Louise Gluck, Sebald, Theseus (Gide).

Past Praise “Although in style and tone 52 Men differs from either Elizabeth Hardwick’s Sleepless Nights or Renata Adler’s Speedboat, it is, like both of these books, a novel of impressions unified by the author’s sensibility... 52 Men suggests that our identity is at least in part a product of our romantic past... she’s slyly, coolly observant and has transformed her experiences into art. -Amanda Fortini in the Los Angeles Review of Books

Reviews

[K.W. Colyard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite frequent warnings from English professors to never conflate the author with the narrator, the situations in which readers may actually make that mistake seldom seem to crop up. But beware Louise Wareham Leonard's 52 Men. It's all too easy to mistake author Louise for narrator Elise, and vice versa.

In its opening, 52 Men proclaims that it "is a work of memory and imagination; stories, actions, and events have been changed to protect the living." Although I'm inclined to sort the book with well-honed fiction instead of memoir, the book works either way.

The minor confusion of Louise/Elise doesn't detract from 52 Men. In fact, it makes the experience of reading Leonard's short fiction collection all the more memorable. The 52 chapters in the first part of the book are journal entries --- some mild, some frantic, but all wholly authentic. Elise's voice is so genuine that the tendency to question just how fictitious 52 Men is stands as a testament to Leonard's talent as a writer.

Those first 52 chapters range from laugh-out-loud funny, to ironic, to forlorn, to cynical. Some you want to skip, and others you'll read over and over again until you've cleaned their bones. They are the stories you'd expect to hear from your closest friends, if you asked them about the men who had brightened their lives and darkened their doorsteps. Narrator Elise begins to feel like one of your old friends: the one who never had her shit together. You know, if your friend dated Jonathan Franzen.

Those who suspect that 52 Men will feel disjointed shouldn't worry. Leonard's collection ends with a piece of short fiction that provides insight into all that has come before it. It's poignant, bitter, and complicated --- just like all of us are. This dense little collection is rich soul food, even if it isn't particularly uplifting.

[Sammy Ginsberg]

It is a secret

of touching,

holds her to her past

as she holds 52 men.

She is ‘Great sex’,

she is lonely,

moments

with men

to create a life.

Is that what Elise wants?

Who is she?

I could not stop,

this broken heart,

the moments of present.

Melancholic prose.

Read more of my Book Reviews - Poetry at http://www.literarypixie.com/book-rev...

[Alexa Oliphant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection playing with the idea of meta faction though flash fiction, "52 Men" certainly has a lot going on for such a short book. Although on one hand it's a very easy read, with non of the men taking more than than a few pages before Elsie is finished with their stories. There are moments as a reader where you wonder about how this narrator who has so many men after her in exciting New York City could deserve sympathy. Well, there is the big ending (which I will not spoil), but more importantly as the collection drags on you sense the lack of agency within the protagonist. Far from a femme fatale, she is human and flawed. As the relationships continue to go poorly with little or no explanation, as a reader you fill in the blanks of what went wrong.

The one line that stood out to me the most was "And what are you going to do about your loneliness?" The line comes from the great love of the narrator's life, as well as serves as the opening for the collection. I think it also ultimately serves as the best way to describe the piece as a whole. We don't understand the harshness and the emptiness of these relationships, but we feel the very authentic loneliness that ignites these flawed relationships.

Ultimately, it's a book that is meant to be felt, not necessarily philosophized over.

[Jessica Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite interesting... reminded me of something I may have written myself on the different lessons learned from each of my relationships, even those that may have not even been considered a "relationship" at the time. I was a little confused as to the order in which these relationships occurred or if some of them were intertwined and taking place at one time. Perhaps it doesn't matter because it is not the point of the story. I also found myself skimming through certain "men" because some didn't seem as interesting as others. And I am left wondering which parts of the encounters were completely true or if some of the characters were fictional. The idea that some of the suspected famous characters were actually a part of the author's past is quite intriguing and makes for a more fascinating read! Overall, the book kept my attention quite easily. I was able to finish reading the book in about 45 minutes. The 2nd portion really grasped my awareness and had me reading deeper into the story trying to determine how the mention of the brother in the first portion of the book would relate to his character's presentation in the end.

[Stacy Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Elise McKnight regales us with short literary stories of the 52 men in her life. All of whom left a piece of themselves behind in her heart and mind. The book is in two parts. The first is the telling of each man’s story, with regard to Elise. It is where we meet the rich and famous, the up and coming and the average man on the street. Each one leaves an impression. Some stories are of romance others are simply about sex. They are odd, strange and intriguing. How did each man touch Elise’s life; if at all?
In the second part the reader is taken aback by the sheer magnitude in which these 52 stories come together to reveal the heart of this autobiography. A quick, light, beautiful and unsuspecting read for those who wish to experience what one women’s past has to do with her present.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What you will find when you read this book is spare, elegant prose that hooks you immediately. The author has bared it all in her "autobiographical fictional" account of the 52 men in her life. There are passages that are hilarious, but more often than not there is an element of heartbreak and longing underscoring the legacy that each of these 52 men left on the author. The reason for this is not revealed until the end—a flip-flopping that I enjoyed immensely.

While the prose is limited, the impact is not. I read the entire book in one sitting. It's a welcome change of pace from other accounts of human interactions where the authors veil the heart of the matter too thickly and you are left with a terrible sense of first-world emptiness. When you read 52 Men, the need to understand why these interactions actually meant something is revealed for once.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this from a Goodreads Giveaway some time ago and just picked it up for a quick read a few nights ago. It was outstanding and although it is short it was not an especially quick read as I ended up reading through it twice in two nights.

I don't rate many books with 5 stars but this book drew me in immediately. I keep wondering what men were real and which stories were real. All of them? None of them? The writing was amazing, with each "man" taking up between a paragraph and two pages, with a story at the end that is about 19 pages. Was that an explanation of all the men described before? I wish I knew, this is really a haunting book.

Thanks for the great read Red Hen books!

[Laurie Loewenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sparse and spare as poetry, this book is an offering presented in the narrator's cupped hands. Its 52 diptychs examine relationships between women and men. Each is a wonder of reduction. The emotions intense as a rich sauce boiled down. Reserve an honored space on your bookshelf for this work. But make sure it is conveniently at hand. You will want to read this again and again.

[Kate Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling novel that stirs the soul and stimulates the imagination. Concisely written with vivid details that paint an effectual picture of each encounter. A thrilling psychological mystery that kept me hungering for answers, right up to the captivating ending. This story left me breathless.

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like artists who aren't afraid to reveal bits of themselves. Louise does this in spades. "52 Men" is like flipping through your friend's little black book--if that friend can write beautiful prose.

[Richard Fellinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique, insightful book. Fifty-two mini stories--sorta like flash fiction, a bit like poetry, and they all tie together like a novella. Louise Wareham Leonard digs into the emotional life of a woman and the men who shaped it. Highly recommended.

[Chandrabrown80 Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book did not appeal to me at all. It was not interesting and didn't grab me from the beginning.

[Liz Stern · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is powerfully structured in tiny segments. Loved this read and our whole book club conversation was a lot of fun.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

52 'normal' stories in Part 1 + 1 confronting story in Part 2 = a good read but not a book I would recommend to friends

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great writing here, very clever and keeps you intrigued.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of this book reminded me of something I’ve thought about writing albeit a little boring at times. Part two was a little shocking and made me so sad. Don’t think I could recommend this to anyone but props to the book for making me feel something.

[Siel Ju · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I find a list of pros and cons about me. Pro: Great sex. A good person. Con: Needy, both emotionally and financially.”
*
52 Men is a thinly veiled memoir written in tiny, flash pieces, each one about a guy with whom the narrator had a relationship — some brief, some longer, some intimate, some cruel. The 52 men glimpsed through this book all are so unique — there’s one guy that sounds curiously like Jonathan Franzen, another who jousts with the narrator so she’ll remember him, several who die young…. The book’s like an ode to ex lovers but also an ode to the fragmentary memories of them. After the flash pieces, this book ends with a longer short story about a girl who has a sexual relationship with her older step brother — at first as a young teen who’s being molested by him, later as a woman, consensually. This story goes to all the uncomfortable, in-between places around consent, desire, history, power. Highly recommended.

[Stephen Policoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

52 Men by Louise Wareham Leonard is an extraordinary book—it offers both the shudder and the smile, the needle in the heart and the cool laughter of a shared witticism. Divided into two sections, with the first section like a deck of cards, shuffled and spread before you, as in a card trick, revealing 52 very different experiences with 52 very different men, love, despair, contempt, anger, bemused affection. The second section , written in a more straight-forward (yet elliptical) narrative style is the story behind the story, the card pulled out of the deck and shown to be the one you always knew was there. Beautiful, precise sentences, unique yet understandable revelations, and now and then a twist of the knife which shows the pain experienced and the pain never forgotten. A haunting work, a tremendously valuable volume

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through Goodreads. Really clever and enjoyable book. Won't be able to put it down after you start reading it. Loved it.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nah.

I wrote a review for LitReactor.

[Emiley Allen Bowes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not impressed by this diary of former loves and likes

[Brian DiNitto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad book, but important.