Robert Dyer\u2019s poignant debut, A Small Memory<\/em> delivers on a quietly powerful premise\u2014that a friendship tested by tragedy can emerge as one of the truest forms of love.<\/p>\n Set in Ohio in 1975, A Small Memory follows Mike Youngstown, an eighteen-year-old college basketball player who joins his best friend, Ted, as a live-in counselor at a group home for developmentally challenged adults. Mike is strong and confident, described as an athlete with a cheerleader girlfriend, while Ted, an aspiring teacher, is the intellectual.<\/p>\n \u201cTed never failed to point out the stereotype of the jock and the cheerleader. Of course, I reminded him he was just another scrawny brain.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n But while both boys slot neatly into the 70s social stereotypes, neither feels onedimensional. Dyer makes it clear that their dynamic is one of equals. While physically stronger, Mike is aware that he will need his best friend\u2019s help academically. Leaning into his own strength, Ted takes a leadership role at work. Dyer takes special care with Ted, whose quiet, wry authority that makes him feel just as \u201csubstantial\u201d as his physically imposing friend. Ted retains his gravitas, even when Mike is protecting him from a resident.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile our struggle continued, Ted grabbed a chair and climbed to his feet. He gave his head a shake and straightened his black horn-rimmed glasses. After taking a deep breath, he said, \u201cLet him go, Mike.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Ted\u2019s gravity makes his injury all the more tragic, as he loses the memories that make him recognizable to himself. Later, when Ted begins to regain his memories Ted\u2019s raw confusion is undeniably touching. It\u2019s impossible not to understand Mike\u2019s devoted prioritization of their friendship, even as Ted\u2019s injury begins to change him too. \u201cI was lost in a feeling of failure that left me paralyzed. The old me was defined by a confidence that could defeat any obstacle; now I was empty.\u201d Mike\u2019s introspection and earnest devotion are, at times, painful to witness, but they feel real and honest as rendered by Dyer.<\/p>\n A Small Memory<\/em> shines in the quiet moments between Mike and Ted. The nicknames \u201cBubs\u201d and \u201cSport\u201d form a tether between the \u201cbefore\u201d and \u201cafter\u201d of Ted\u2019s injury. Tragedy comes quickly in A Small Memory, but Dyer establishes the depth of their friendship with moments of easy intimacy. \u201cBubs,\u201d [\u2026] I told you that you could never get rid of me. You\u2019re stuck with me. We\u2019re in this together.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n When a new resident at the group home attacks Ted, Mike is wildly distressed that he wasn\u2019t there to protect his friend. As a result, Mike\u2019s guilt buttresses Ted\u2019s rough recovery for a great portion of the book. I love this sympathetic balancing act. Ted\u2019s trauma is legitimately distressing, and Dyer conveys Mike\u2019s distress with convincing authenticity.<\/p>\n Thanks to Dyer\u2019s sensitive, light-handed approach, Mike\u2019s guilt pulls at the reader, as does Ted\u2019s confusion. Unfortunately, some of the other characters feel underdeveloped by comparison. The men in the group home are drawn in broad strokes that signal \u201cdevelopmental issues\u201d rather than individuality. Similarly, the new resident is less a character and more the foreboding promise of mental instability. Even the boys\u2019 boss feels a bit too much like a stock, bureaucratic villain. This story, however, is Mike and Ted\u2019s, so the relative superficiality of the other characters doesn\u2019t shake my investment in their dynamic.<\/p>\n There are many great portrayals of male devotion in fiction from Frodo and Sam to Holmes and Watson, but it\u2019s rare for such a dynamic to be treated as a novel\u2019s primary subject. Robert Dyer does well in doing so. A Small Memory<\/em> is a lovely complement to the canon of male friendships.<\/p>\n The post A Small Memory by Robert Dyer<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A moving story of friendship and devotion in the wake of a life-changing traumatic injury Robert Dyer\u2019s poignant debut, A Small Memory delivers on a quietly powerful premise\u2014that a friendship tested by tragedy can emerge as one of the truest forms of love. Set in Ohio in 1975, A Small Memory follows Mike Youngstown, an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
piecemeal, his overwhelm and distress are deeply affecting. \u201cWhy?\u201d Ted cried out. \u201cCan I go back? I want to go back to school! I want to help you!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n