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The Waterproof Bible

by Andrew Kaufman

Those who enjoyed All My Friends Are Superheroes, Andrew Kaufman’s 2003 cult-hit debut, should be similarly taken with his sophomore effort, The Waterproof Bible, which retains the romance, humour, and
inventive allegory of the earlier book. This time, however, the romantic plot is interwoven with multiple narrative threads dealing with death and estrangement, making for an ambitious novel with a slightly more serious tone.

Like its predecessor, The Waterproof Bible is populated by a combination of remarkably average folks and individuals possessing extraordinary physical or emotional traits. Aberystwyth and her estranged mother are amphibious humanoids who can breathe underwater. Rebecca, the novel’s central character, is unable to prevent herself from projecting her emotions into the minds of others; she breaks down entirely when her sister Lisa dies. Lewis, Rebecca’s brother-in-law, flees Lisa’s funeral and subsequently loses his sight and hearing. In the same way that Rebecca’s emotional crisis is a preternatural extension of her sense of loss, Lewis’s sensory deprivation mirrors the isolation he feels upon his wife’s death.

The Waterproof Bible consists of 10 sections, each illustrated with a pictograph. These sections, in turn, are subdivided into numerous short chapters. The novel has a contemporary setting and takes place in several Canadian locales, from Halifax to Morris, Manitoba. There is also a backstory – featuring dialogue in a fictional language that deviates from the Roman alphabet – that transpires far beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

All this structural apparatus feels too often like sheer willfulness on the part of the author, a feeling compounded by the fact that the plot relies on multiple coincidences. At times, the characters’ crises verge on the sentimental, but elsewhere they have real affective power. Overall, one is willing to forgive the novel its faults, which are outweighed by its evident merits.

 

Reviewer: Devon Code

Publisher: Random House Canada

DETAILS

Price: $27

Page Count: 288 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 978-0-30735-762-5

Released: Feb.

Issue Date: 2010-1

Categories: Fiction: Novels