No Two Persons

Oh, how I love a story that has a story within a story ... this book takes it one step further to have an actual book within the book! And, this amazing book has not only a book within it, but so many stories ... and connections within stories to other stories. Erica Bauermeister has the uncanny ability to write characters in just one chapter that feel more fully fleshed out than you often find in full books. She describes people, emotions, and settings so brilliantly that you truly feel as if you know who you are reading about and you want to know the outcome of their story. This is one of the most unique books I've read and I wish that I could read it again for the first time ... and I just finished it! I also wish that I could read show more the book within the book, but it exists only in the snippets included and in the author's mind .... which is kind of the whole purpose of the book. Excellent. Absolutely excellent. show less

No Two Persons is a hauntingly beautiful marriage of novel and short story collection and is one of the best books I have read in a long time. A masterclass in "show, don't tell," Erica puts your heart through the emotional wringer with her exquisitely written characters. Starting with author Alice, we follow her novel, Theo, throughout the years, starting with the submissions reader who sends it to her boss, a literary agent, to a former actor, a high school student, a struggling diver, a bookseller, a handful of people whose lives appear disparate at first, but whose connection spans beyond their interaction with Theo, and therefore Alice. No two persons experience the act of reading, and processing, Theo in the same way, but it show more touches them, and connects them, in ways both subtle and profound. At the end of the day, my heart breaks to know that I have to wait to share it with the world, I already want to be able to hand it to people and ask them what it meant to them, in the way Erica shows us what Theo meant to her characters. show less

Please note that I received this via NetGalley.

I have been reading Erica Bauermeister off and on for years. The glow I felt for her books slowly faded after her first book, "The School of Essential Ingredients". All of a sudden characters didn't read as very developed and I would be totally lost as I was going through the book. I missed the closeness I felt while reading that first book. I recall reading "The School of Essential Ingredients" and my brain shut off and I just fell into the story. I remember being really annoyed when I realized I needed to go to sleep for work the next day. I just didn't want to finish it. That same feeling came over me as I was reading "No Two Persons." This honestly is a long love letter to book readers show more and just honestly people who love words. Everything felt thoughtfully written. We follow 10 separate people over a number of years around the writing and publication of a book called "Theo."

The story begins in 2010 in Maine and we follow "The Writer" who is Alice. Alice who has such a complicated history, but love of books and words. From there we follow "The Assistant", "The Actor", "The Artist," "The Diver," "The Teenager," "The Bookseller," "The Caretaker," "The Coordinator," "The Agent", and then the Epilogue which leaves us with Alice again.

The writing is lyrical and haunting at times. What I loved the most is that we begin with Alice and we also end with her. And in between we get all of the stories of the people who were touched by or in one case (annoyed as hell by) her book. For some, the book is a great catalyst to their lives, or something that led to the next big thing for them. Some of the characters have connections to each other so you definitely have to read on in a lot of cases if you want to know what happens to them. There is a question mark about two characters, but I like that the question mark is there. I love that Bauermeister didn't feel the need to show and tell us everything.

I loved that the setting of this book starts off in Maine and ends in New York. And we get to visit other places as well (Florida and Northern California).

The book was lovely to read on a rainy day in Virginia. I got to sit with it while drinking tea and buried under a blanket. It also had me thinking of how much I still want to do, and plan on doing this year and the years ahead. And how when a book comes that is "that book" for you, it stays for a very long time. This is definitely going on my list of favorites for 2023. show less

What a fabulous premise for booklovers. This captivating novel in linked short stories follows the path of a book from writer to reader along so many different plotlines. Even to specify the chapter titles gives too much away.
I loved going into this blind and was so delighted at what I found. The author paints each character as a fully fleshed out person in a tight, well written vignette. I couldn’t get enough of this. I was sorry to see it end, yet it ended perfectly. Highly recommend for a thoughtful, entertaining and totally satisfying read.

Please note that I received this via NetGalley.

I have been reading Erica Bauermeister off and on for years. The glow I felt for her books slowly faded after her first book, "The School of Essential Ingredients". All of a sudden characters didn't read as very developed and I would be totally lost as I was going through the book. I missed the closeness I felt while reading that first book. I recall reading "The School of Essential Ingredients" and my brain shut off and I just fell into the story. I remember being really annoyed when I realized I needed to go to sleep for work the next day. I just didn't want to finish it. That same feeling came over me as I was reading "No Two Persons." This honestly is a long love letter to book readers show more and just honestly people who love words. Everything felt thoughtfully written. We follow 10 separate people over a number of years around the writing and publication of a book called "Theo."

The story begins in 2010 in Maine and we follow "The Writer" who is Alice. Alice who has such a complicated history, but love of books and words. From there we follow "The Assistant", "The Actor", "The Artist," "The Diver," "The Teenager," "The Bookseller," "The Caretaker," "The Coordinator," "The Agent", and then the Epilogue which leaves us with Alice again.

The writing is lyrical and haunting at times. What I loved the most is that we begin with Alice and we also end with her. And in between we get all of the stories of the people who were touched by or in one case (annoyed as hell by) her book. For some, the book is a great catalyst to their lives, or something that led to the next big thing for them. Some of the characters have connections to each other so you definitely have to read on in a lot of cases if you want to know what happens to them. There is a question mark about two characters, but I like that the question mark is there. I love that Bauermeister didn't feel the need to show and tell us everything.

I loved that the setting of this book starts off in Maine and ends in New York. And we get to visit other places as well (Florida and Northern California).

The book was lovely to read on a rainy day in Virginia. I got to sit with it while drinking tea and buried under a blanket. It also had me thinking of how much I still want to do, and plan on doing this year and the years ahead. And how when a book comes that is "that book" for you, it stays for a very long time. This is definitely going on my list of favorites for 2023. show less

No Two Persons is a hauntingly beautiful marriage of novel and short story collection and is one of the best books I have read in a long time. A masterclass in "show, don't tell," Erica puts your heart through the emotional wringer with her exquisitely written characters. Starting with author Alice, we follow her novel, Theo, throughout the years, starting with the submissions reader who sends it to her boss, a literary agent, to a former actor, a high school student, a struggling diver, a bookseller, a handful of people whose lives appear disparate at first, but whose connection spans beyond their interaction with Theo, and therefore Alice. No two persons experience the act of reading, and processing, Theo in the same way, but it show more touches them, and connects them, in ways both subtle and profound. At the end of the day, my heart breaks to know that I have to wait to share it with the world, I already want to be able to hand it to people and ask them what it meant to them, in the way Erica shows us what Theo meant to her characters. show less

A really sweet ode to books and reading. It wasn’t a typical novel, structured more like short stories that are loosely connected. I don’t typically like short stories but enjoyed reading this and the creativity of all the different characters and how they might have encountered the novel within the novel. I wanted to know a little more about the novel within the novel, but enjoyed how it was slowly exposed bit by bit with each chapter.