The Man on the Ceiling
Writer: Steve Rasnic Tem & Melanie Tem
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 337
I have to be honest here: I’m biased. Not in the obvious way though. Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem were the writers-in-residence during the dreaded Week 5 of Odyssey 2005. Well, them and Melanie’s guide dog, Dominic, who I think kept us all sane. The Tems were a sharp couple, and they thoroughly interacted and engaged with every single one of us students, and they always gave each us of their full attention. I have to admit, I didn’t always agree with their crits (of my own work, of course. 
) but they were open, honest, and willing to TALK about the work and get to know us better, and that left a far more lasting impression in my mind than anything else.
The only writing of theirs I’ve read were two short stories (one from each writer) right before they showed up at Odyssey. I didn’t pay much attention then, because I didn’t know them and the stories didn’t grab me at the time, and I’ve never sought out their work. Until now.
I saw this book through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer Program, and I didn’t hesitate to sign up for an ARC. Why not? This was a book they’d written TOGETHER, and it had a gorgeous cover. I couldn’t pass it up.
And it turns out, I didn’t have to. I won my copy of the ARC, and decided to hell with whatever I thought of the book, I was getting the REAL copy anyway, so I passed my ARC on to and snuggled up with the REAL, pretty-cover copy.
This is one of those reviews that doesn’t need a cut. Hell, it doesn’t even need a blurb about the premise, because the book is beautiful, surreal, and haunting in such a subtle way you’re not even sure it’s happening until it suddenly grips you. The Man on the Ceiling is in many ways, creative non-fiction, but it’s practically an interstitial work, a book that blurs the lines between fact, fiction, memory, and imagination, but grounds it all in truth. I rarely had trouble discerning when Melanie wrote versus Steve, and the times I did, it didn’t matter. Their writing flows together, entwines in such a way that having a book with two different first person POVs feels like it’s come from one body, one mind, one soul. But it isn’t.
I’m not entirely sure how my reaction to this book is based on the fact I got to spend a week with this amazing couple. I suspect quite a bit, to be honest, but yet, you can’t argue the beauty of the whole book put together. I was reminded of Valente‘s work. I was reminded of Winterson‘s. And that’s high praise. There’s such a simple, deceptive beauty to this prose that you don’t even realize that at the book’s heart, it’s horror, but horror in the most realistic ways imaginable. Key word: imagine.
Must Have: close to “the keeper shelf,” but suspect it might take a second reading to bump it up a notch. Like I said, it’s very possible I’m simply biased, but I thoroughly enjoyed this read, this autobiography of the Tem’s imagination, of their lives, of their children. It’s a surreal piece, and one not easily forgotten.
Next up: I’m going to start reading two books at once. But not in the obvious sense. Greg’s got a ton of comic books and graphic novels he wants me to read, so for a while anyway, I’m going to oblige him. So now, with each review, you’ll get two next-ups. One graphic novel, and one book.
Book: Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
Graphic Novel: The Watchmen by Alan Moore
That cover really is just lovely—and the book itself sounds intriguing as well. I love Valente’s narrative voice, and it would be nice to read a book with that same poetic flare. I’ll have to add this one to my lengthy, lengthy to-read list.
Hrmmm. Sounds intriguing.
I’ll have to check this out too. I have to thank you for reading and reviewing so many books! I’d never have found these on my own and it’s definitely expanding the books and genres I read.
I’ve heard great things about Watchmen although I’ve never had the opportunity to read it. Will you be watching the movie when it comes out?
One of my friends is getting into comics too so I’ve been getting into that field as well. Will you be reading other graphic novels (after the Watchmen series)?
Agreed. Brilliant book.
Yay for graphic novels! I recently started dating someone who reads fantasy and such (another yay for me) and was digging through my collection for things to share with him. I’d forgotten how much I like the medium and I’ll be very interested to hear what you think of The Watchman. I, like millions of others, saw the preview for the movie in front of The Dark Knight and I think the story looks intriguing. Basically I want to read all of Moore’s stuff.
Hey, this is kind of unrelated, but I’ve been meaning to ask you… do you happen to know of any good online book clubs or reading groups? I keep finding groups but there’s never any good discussions going on.
When you read it, let me know what you think.
Awww…thanks!
The movie is the reason I’m reading the graphic novel. The trailer just did nothing for me, so I decided I needed to read the source material first. We’ll definitely see the movie–Greg’s all excited about it.
I’ll be reading the Sandman series, definitely. Not sure what else. Maybe some Hellboy.
Glad to see someone else has read it!
The trailer’s the reason I’m reading the source material.
I’ll be posting the review when I’m done. 
Try and
You could try Fables too. It’s basically all your regular fable-like characters that were pushed out from their various homelands/kingdoms by the Others and now have to survive in the Real World. Snow White is the mayor of the Fables, the wolf from the Little Red Riding Hood is the sheriff, Jack the Giant Killer is sort of a con man / thief, Beauty and the Beast are having troubles now blending in and want to get divorced…
It’s not my cup of tea, since it’s a little darker in the morally ambiguous way than I usually prefer in my entertainment, but I think it’s something that you’d enjoy.
I’ve heard good things about Hellboy 2′s movie but – and I feel slightly shallow for this – I can’t get past his appearance. Just don’t like it. :/
And Sandman! That’s awesome. That’s the one by Neil Gaiman right? Have you read his books too?
I’ll be reading what Greg has available. Fortunately, that’s a lot. And yes, Sandman is Neil Gaiman. Of his books, I’ve only read AMERICAN GODS.
Have you seen the first HELLBOY movie? That was really good. The second wasn’t AS good as the first, but it was still fun, with some wicked-awesome fighting scenes.
Heh, well, you asked.
My review.
It was a book I couldn’t couldn’t finish—dry prose, in need of a plot or some sort of forward momentum, but most of all there was too much telling and too little showing, as the old writing phrase goes, for a story about storytelling. I’ve been trying for two weeks to get through it, and just gave up because I find no pleasure or worth in reading it.
A bit of a contrast, I suppose. ^^
Fair enough. Thanks for the link. For me, the voice worked, and I also mentioned I was biased in the review.
Though I’m surprised you didn’t find any of the stories to be stories, but considering the regular mention of plot, it sounds like the writing style/structure (lack thereof concerning the latter) was what did you in.