Aaron, Approximately - Softcover

Lazar, Zachary

3.46

41 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380732130 ISBN 13: 9780380732135

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 1999

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Aaron Bright has the dubious honor of being the son of a fool-actually a clown and the host of a popular TV kidie show in Colorado. Often the target of ridicule, young Aaron is initially willing to accept the taunts of his peers out of loyalty to his father. But when a a misguided publicity stunt ends in tragedy, Aaron is prematurely thrust into an adolescent sphere of dislocation, insecurity, and rebellion as he struggles to make his way without a father. Intelligent, sensitive, and confused about his identity, Aaron transforms himself into a would-be clown, wearing strange clothing and cracking jokes about himself to hide his uneasiness. From self-mocking buffoon to self-loathing punk rocker, Aaron tries to on mask after mask in an effort to both satisfy his father's legacy and transcend it.

An outsider from the start, the hilariously endearing yet overwhelmingly conflicted Aaron shows us what it is like to need attention so desperately that one would sabotoge both family and love to satisfy its call. Ringing with the truth of what it means to have grown up at the end of the twentieth century,Aaron, Approximately marks Zachary Lazar's debut as a refreshing and intelligent new voice in American fiction.

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Review:

Anyone who was already an adult in the '80s might remember those years as the decade of conservative politics, Wall Street dirty dealings, and a Reaganesque "Morning in America" as pretty as cotton candy and just about as filling. Those who came of age then probably recall a pervasive sense that the baby boomers had already skimmed society's cream for themselves, leaving just the whey for those who came after. Zachary Lazar's first novel, Aaron, Approximately is definitely meant for the latter population--twentysomething readers will no doubt have a keen appreciation for the hopes and fears (mostly fears) that motivate protagonist Aaron Bright. When we first meet young Aaron, he is 26 years old, involved with a gorgeous, wealthy, and talented young woman and unable to bring himself to take that final step: marriage. The reason for Aaron's ambivalence lies, of course, in his childhood, and most of Lazar's novel is dedicated to excavating his troubled hero's rather bizarre past.

We learn, for example, that Aaron's father, a popular children's television show host, died in a parachuting accident as 8-year-old Aaron looked on, and from that moment on, Aaron became both an object of fascination and of ridicule to his peers. After years as the school outcast, he gains a degree of acceptance as class clown and eventually finds a place on the outskirts of popularity. Lazar then follows his hero through angst-ridden college years and beyond until the novel returns full circle to the point where it began: Will Aaron marry Clarissa or won't he? If past is prologue, readers of Zachary Lazar's novel won't have any trouble accepting Aaron's decision.

About the Author:

Zachary Lazar has won fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the James Michener-Copernicus Society of America. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop and has taught most recently at Hofstra University. He lives in New York City.

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