Changed in Florida

Ryan Rivas' novella Lizard People is one of those books that will stay active in my mind long after the reading and reviewing are done. Part science fiction, part thriller, part psychological study, its immediacy draws us into the story of a narrator who believes he's a lizard person. As we're gaining our footing on what's happening -- are we supposed to believe he really is a lizard person? is he delusional? he talks about taking his dewlap out of his shirt collar, but he could be hallucinating that, too -- the action accelerates. It's all we can do to keep up with the relevant bits of family history, therapy sessions, unreliable allies, and unexpected events as they tumble toward an oddly satisfying conclusion. 

Rivas' tone and delivery are exceptionally well-pitched and the entire story exudes Florida atmosphere. This is a brief read that one could return to again and again. I think I'm missing a lot of what lurks below the glossy surface, as explicitly set out in 3 pages of "therapist's notes" included verbatim following a key scene. A literature classroom or a high-level book club would be a fine location to unpack this work in detail. This might also be (in a better political climate) an awesome book to teach in high school: short, interesting, and with plenty to say and lots of room for interpretation. References to Kafka's The Metamorphosis would be just the beginning.

Excerpt:

I replayed Karen's voicemail and sat on the windowsill above the heater to ponder her words. Karen knew my secret and accepted me despite it. She believed therapy was dangerous and feared it would change me. She did not want me to change. She loved me. I listened again and again, moving between phone and sill, until the facts of the matter accumulated and resolved into a conclusion: Karen was a lizard person, too.

I didn't know how to know if I was in love, though I wondered if it mattered. Mate selection was the female's domain. I did know that.  

Note: This book counts toward the Color Coded Reading Challenge.