Review of “Dear Michael” by Adam Lieber

92/100 (9.2 out of 10)

Dear Michael is yet another LGBTQA+ gem. Stylistically—in terms of presentation, storytelling, comedy, and humor—it is very similar to Bacon Grief by Joel Shoemaker. It also doubles as a multicultural book, exploring the narrator's adventures (and misadventures) in the Philippines and Hawaii.

Dear Michael by Adam Lieber is a memoir following Adam through the chaotic whirlwind that is his life as a perpetual fish out of water, albeit a clever and intelligent one. Both his ethnicity and status as a homosexual make him a minority almost everywhere he goes, and it often feels that he never quite fits in with his environment.

Interestingly, we get almost a foreshadowing or allusion to this as Adam describes his first experience in deep sea diving, witnessing a whale shark and almost drowning on the way to go see it. In doing so, he also breaks the rules of deep sea diving and has to be rescued from the brink of oblivion. In a sense, this is poetic as Adam is constantly at risk of breaking the rules or conventions of the people and cultures surrounding him.

One of the best, most thrilling, and fascinating stories is when Adam describes being wrongfully arrested and detained by a corrupt Filipino police department after an unscrupulous complaint is hurled at him and his ice cream business, framing him for a wrong he didn't commit. As if the drowning story wasn't enough of a nail-biter, this jail story had us on the edge! It seemed like Adam had deluded himself into thinking he could escape or that his lawyer could get him out. We thought this was going to be an episode of Prison Break!

It also gives you the fearful, panicked perspective of someone who is detained in a foreign country. Could you imagine?! That's terrifying!

The book goes on, almost in reverse chronological order, to explore Adam's adventures and misadventures, particularly in coming to grips with his homosexuality. Indeed, Adam has a number of homosexual experiences. He also has some interesting (non-sexual) experiences in grade school.

One thing that stands out about him is his sense of humor. In one of the funniest scenes in the book, Adam presents a creep with an even more creepy story about a farmer who loved his favorite sheep a bit too much, then tries to get the sheep's kid into school. It's surreal and believable despite its absurdity! And this puts the creep off.

Another funny moment is when a male stripper who accidentally visits his room, performs half his routine, only to find that he's in the wrong room.

Those are some of the highlights.

With all that said, the book largely centers on the narrator's relationship with another author—ironically—the titular Michael. Although Adam's relationship with Michael is largely parasocial for most of the book, it's nonetheless very powerful because it's through Michael and his book that Adam realizes the most about himself. In a sense, it's Michael's words that inspire Adam not only to come out of the closet but also to become a writer/author himself. And here were are reading a book by Adam. It all comes full circle.

And, yes, Adam's relationship with Michael (and other men) does go beyond parasocial and into the physical/intimate/sexual. Those scenes are far and in between, especially for an LGBTQA+ book, but they are here, so be warned. It gets intense sometimes.

Check it out on Amazon!