Max Austin’s sequel to his emotional bio-fictional memoir ‘How Can We Be Wrong?’
Careful what you wish for, goes the old saying. And it’s actually true.
When you are on the outside, and you see your desires like shining objects that, if yours, will make your life perfect, if you owned them, every problem will disappear. But once you cross the line and see past the shine and sparkle, you realise there is so much more than that, and what you desired with all your self won’t solve all your problems, nor will make your life perfect.
That’s exactly what happens to Max: after four years in his nurse leader position, he feels like his uniform is no longer a badge of honour, but rather a straight jacket. There are meetings and discussions and budget talks and things to take care of that actually push him away from being a nurse. He is not the only one to feel this way tough. George, Jack’s father, has finally left his wife and moved to London to look for a new life; Christian, Jack’s brother, and Carla are now married and expecting their first child; Danni is going line dancing with a stranger and Zuri and Simon are now the duo behind the counter at the Potters Arms. There might be some new faces in town, but the bottom line still remains the same: how difficult and fragile and messy it is to build a connection with others. Life goes on, whether we like it or not, and our characters move within it.
This second chapter of Max Austin’s bio-fiction is a delicate, ethereal ensemble of feelings, revelations and small miracles. While his first book was shedding a light on how challenging and consuming it was to come out as gay within the early 1990s, ‘That Is What We Are’ is all about how relationships take ages to be built and seconds to be destroyed. The whole book follows a somehow surreal, metaphysical approach, with the intention to appeal to and connect deeply with human emotions, rather than presenting a more “traditional” plot where a “hero” sets out on a journey to restore a disrupted status quo and find a new balance.
While this might be slightly unsettling for some, it is also a reminder that writing as an art is subjective and, most importantly, transformative for both writer and reader. If reading about the life experiences Austin is wholeheartedly sharing – albeit fictionalised – can help even one single reader, then a book’s job is done. Embrace the transformative power of reading and give this book a chance.
‘That Is What We Are’ is available for purchase at: https://bit.ly/3Dq1rEF
You can check out our review of ‘How Can We Be Wrong?’ here.