Karl Ackerman

Will Gerard, the protagonist of Karl Ackerman’s Dear Will (New York: Scribner, 2000), is a middle-aged man living in the way that most man, and women too, have lived since the beginning of time, which is at the center of their own universe. The central aspect of the story involves a young woman, given up for adoption at birth, who is seeking to locate her birth father. The particular twists and turns of his life may be interesting to the outside observer but in the end the only thing that seems to tie his life together is that, from his particular perspective, the present is okay.

For all the variations and complexities in relationships that emerge as the characters find their way there is a paucity of emotional connectedness among the characters. Given the age that we live in and the way virtually any type of relationship is viewed as acceptable within our society maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that everything was casually okay. I, however, would have found it refreshing if one of the voices would have, in effect, stood up and said, “Hey! That isn’t okay, and this is why not.”

Ackerman tells a tale that is okay, in the sense that it is a tale with a few unpredictable turns, but one I find that I suspect will stay with me not because of what it says, but because of what it doesn’t say. Our postmodern culture needs more voices that say what is right and what is not, and why that is so, and not another voice that says at the end of the day, “A good time was had by all.”… (meer)