Radiant Days: A Novel by Michael FitzGerald

There are books that I am distinctly unqualified to review.  Who am I to express an opinion on The Iliad, or a Hemingway novel, or A Confederacy of Dunces?  Although I read a lot, I don’t always read well.  Spy novels, technical books, popular history, management fodder, and sniper books are my common fare and it is therefore with some trepidation that I approve reviewing this literary achievement. 

It is no surprise that Michael FitzGerald’s first novel , Radiant Days, took years to publish.  I could tell by the second page that I was reading a well crafted work of excruciating love.  Without any comment yet on the story itself, one cannot help but admire the craft in the words.

Our questionable hero, dot-com-drop-out Anthony, falls ass-over-tea-kettle into what will likely be the one true adventure of his life.  He dispassionately finds himself co-existing with other unremarkable characters in the wartime Balkans.  While this might affect your average human being in profound ways, Anthony confirms our expectations of his generation by remaining wholly unaffected by the experience.

While Anthony allows real life to eat him alive, we wallow in our shame for creating a society that built the Mall of America.

Michael’s first literary work is truly that; A genuine literary work of admirable quality.  This is the kind of book that I can not only enjoy, but will enjoy discussing with others.  This is perfect book club material. 

After all, it’s not the kind of thing that I have to hide in the bathroom because I am ashamed that I actually own the book.