Robert Isaacs's first novel, It's Hard to Be an Animal, is a feat of humor, yearning, adventure, angst, and romance. In following a lonely, self-doubting protagonist, this remarkable debut manages to be about all of life, in its most unlikely twists.
Readers meet Henry on a first date with Molly at a sidewalk café in Manhattan. Coffee goes well, so they take a walk in Central Park, where Henry spots a magnolia warbler. The sweet, decorative little bird considers the pair, and then speaks. "Fuck off," it says clearly to Henry and then continues in a similarly foul-mouthed territorial vein. When Henry gets home, he discovers his housemate's two betta fish involved in an exchange of creatively nasty insults. The situation continues with dogs, a police horse, pigeons: Henry can now hear animals talking. If that fact were not shocking enough, they all seem to be terribly angry.
Painfully conflict-averse, Henry is challenged enough by human drama; fat-shaming sparrows and judgmental pythons threaten his threadbare mental health but also offer perspective. When he overhears subway rats discussing a body-disposal site, he inadvertently lets it slip to the unusually adventurous Molly. The budding couple soon find themselves enmired in the subway system and an intrigue of increasingly high stakes. And a neighbor's yappy Pomeranian turns out to be the font of wisdom that the pushover Henry needed. In a newly cacophonous world, he may finally find his own voice.
It's Hard to Be an Animal is one laugh, dire escapade, or poignant moment away from either disaster or nirvana. Hilarious, heartfelt, ever-surprising, Henry's story is one of hope, redemption, and self-discovery. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia