Numb by Sean Ferrell

Sean Ferrell

Sean Ferrell's story "Building an Elephant" won the Fulton Prize from The Adirondack Review; his short stories have appeared in Bossa Nova Ink, WORDS, Uber, and The Cafe Irreal. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. Numb is his first novel.



Numb
Numb, a man who feels no pain and has no memory of how he came to be this way, travels to New York City after a short stint in the circus to search for the answers to his past. But when word of his condition spreads--sparked by the attention he attracts from letting people nail his hands to bars for money--he quickly finds himself hounded on all sides by those who would use his unique ability in their own pursuits of fame and fortune. There's the best friend who doesn't quite know how to handle Numb's newfound celebrity, the savvy talent agent who may or may not have Numb's best interests in mind, the sadistic supermodel whose idea of a good time involves lion claws and can openers, and the blind girlfriend who might actually see something in Numb others don't. As Numb navigates this strange world, and as he continues to search for clues from his past, he is forced to confront one of life's toughest questions: Who am I?

My Take:  I was very intrigued by the whole premise of this book.  Imagine losing your memory and not being able to feel anything?  The show Haven has a character that can't feel any pain.  Anyway back to the book.  This book explores the way the current culture seems to latch onto almost anything for entertainment(reality shows, paparazzi etc).  I am just as guilty of this as anyone as I absolutely love Survivor.  Those who are invovled in the entertainment need to be very careful.  This book also explores the other end , where people use the entertainer to further them instead of the entertainer's best interest. 

Numb is forced to more or less prostitute himself by letting people put nails in him.  Just like so many other people he didn't know any other way to survive.  First he was part of the freak show in the circus and then on to a different kind of freak show in New York.  

This book was entertaining and I would recommend it .