Benjamin Kunkel's "Indecision: A Novel" will be a welcome breath of fresh air for just about any reader, especially for those too long engrossed in 19th century classics or turned off of literature by a high school regimen of redundant Toni Morrison books. "Indecision" is a genuinely contemporary piece of fiction with roots in the traditional coming of age story. Think "Catcher in the Rye" for the new millennium.
This is Kunkel's debut novel, and what a debut it is - at least at first. Readers will likely devour the entirety of the book as its crisp and comic style remains consistent and highly entertaining throughout its more than two hundred pages. But the unexpected ending of almost slapdash construction has a juvenile feel to it, as though Kunkel realized too late that he had no idea where he was going with the plot.
Having no clue about the future is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the chief conflict facing the 28-year-old protagonist Dwight Wilmerding, who struggles with "abulia" - the chronic inability to make decisions. From within the confines of his New York apartment and his cubicle at Pfizer, Wilmerding wonders what to make of his education, his life and himself.
Though his sister, Alice, offers her assistance through bi-weekly sessions of psychoanalysis, Wilmerding finds a more promising, albeit risky, solution in a brand new drug called "Abulinix," which supposedly cures abulia after only a week or so. With Abulinix surging through his system, and having been "pfired" from Pfizer, Wilmerding abruptly leaves behind New York and his quasi-girlfriend Vaneetha and sets off for Ecuador to visit his old friend and possible love interest, Natasha.
Some may find Wilmerding's incessant pondering and mid-life crisis-type behavior annoying, but behind his constant whining resides a serious affliction of almost all young people in modern times: an overwhelming sense of purposelessness, uncertainty and lack of direction. The real problem is that Kunkel, after teasing the reader with so many pages of hinting at some sort of meaningful change in Wilmerding, fails to offer a sound resolution to this rather prominent and very real ailment.
The conclusion of "Indecision" strays a bit too close to one of those "it was all a dream" endings, leaving the reader wholly unsatisfied and questioning the actual intent of the book. If Kunkel wanted his work to be a call to action or a catalyst of "democratic socialism" as the last few chapters suggest, he should have more thoroughly developed the veins of neo-liberalism and anti-capitalism that pulsed rather weakly through the text. Kunkel has a hard time properly juggling the intimate character-centered portions of his novel and the more global-oriented, preachy parts.
"Indecision" remains worth the read. One of its strongest points is the original narrative voice and the unique perspective of its main character. Kunkel uses an endless stream of interesting, beautiful and accurate metaphors to show his readers the world through Wilmerding's eyes, without sounding too abstract or aloof. This down-to-earth approach to vivid description makes both the urban and exotic settings equally lucid and appealing. The plot's non-linear timeline is well crafted as opposed to confusing.
Kunkel nicely balances his overt humor and wordplay with sometimes-subtle social commentary and philosophical undertones. The incorporation of e-mail excerpts, the references to very recent events in history and the abundant use of familiar colloquial terms such as "dude" and "like," all blend together well and remind the reader just how contemporary this novel really is.
Above all, Kunkel has shown one thing through "Indecision: A Novel": he is an extremely talented young writer bursting with potential. This first book of his deserves the attention it has received and will surely pique your interest to the point that you look forward to his future publications. Let there be no indecision about that.
