What You See in the Dark

by Manuel Munoz

Bakersfield, California in the late 1950s is a dusty, quiet town too far from Los Angeles to share that city's energy yet close enough to Hollywood to fill its citizens with the kind of dreams they discover in the darkness of the movie theatre. For Teresa, an aspiring singer working at a shoe store, dreams lie in the music of love and longing her mother shared with her. In Dan Watson, the most desirable young man in town, she thinks she has found someone to help realize her dreams. When a famous actress arrives from Hollywood with a great and already legendary director, local gossip about Teresa and Dan gives way to speculation about the celebrated visitors, there to work on what will become an iconic, groundbreaking film of madness and murder at a roadside motel. No one anticipates how the ill-fated love affair between Dan and Teresa will soon rival anything the director could ever put on the screen. This is a thoroughly original work within the great tradition of noir, captivating in its juxtapositions of tenderness and menace, violence and regret, played out in a town on the brink of change.

• ISBN10: 1616200596
• ISBN13: 9781616200596
• Publish Date: 29 March 2011
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

When a famous actor and director arrives in Bakersfield, California (1959) scouting film locations for an upcoming movie about madness, the local gossip columns begin to speculate why they are here. However, when a murder at a roadside motel is discovered, this dusty, quiet town is turned on its head. Unfolding the same way the Hitchcock’s movie Psycho, almost frame for frame. No one ever predicted that life would rival anything that this director could capture on the screen.

Manuel Muñoz has been dazzling the world with his short story collections for a while now, often been compared to Junot Díaz or Daniel Alarcón. What You See in the Dark is his debut novel and it explodes onto the scene to explore the deliciously sinister side of desire. Heavily influenced by Psycho, Muñoz tries to capture that iconic feel of this classic movie.

What I found fascinating about this novel is the way it did try to mimic Hitchcock’s Psycho, trying to capture the feel and style. While it does not always work I was very impressed with just how much did translate to the page. Manuel Muñoz is a very impressive writer and I went into this book expecting something light and fluffy but ended up being captivated by the style.

What You See in the Dark is a very stylistic novel that tried and often succeeded in playing with the imagery, however it often did stick to what novels do far better than movies, and that is the internal monologues. The book is not without its flaws, there are times where it tries too hard at mimicking Hitchcock and there are other times where it feels flat or dry. In the end, this was an enjoyable book with a perfect title. What do you see in the dark? Hitchcock knows and he has the answer.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2015/06/26/what-you-see-in-the-dark-by-manuel-munoz/