The Curious Case of Max Tivoli

I usually don't read a lot of books, but as of late I have come across many great stories and have become quite a book worm.



Thanks to an interesting article from 7x7 magazine about the local author Andrew Sean Greer, I picked up the book The Confessions of Max Tivoli. This book was the premise for the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and was 100% fascinating.

Unlike the movie, the book is set in San Francisco and it was interesting to learn more about the city as it changed during the late 1800's and into the early 1900's. The story originates from the written confessions of an individual who was born as an old man, has aged backwards, and is now writing his life's story to his loved ones before he inevitably passes away. Max Tivoli has been in love with Alice since he first met her as a little girl when she and her mother were living as tenants in the Tivoli building. He loved her independence, strength, and beauty. Max's mother had one rule for him, "be what they think you are" and Max only broke that rule three times. First, when as a child he was playing with his best friend Hughie. Hughie believed him and stuck by him through thick and thin, and proved to be his one true accomplice in life. Second, when he wanted to tell Alice he truly loved her. She, on the other hand, did not believe Max and escaped the city with her mother to Seattle. Finally, he began to write his confessions as the last testament of his life as he has found Alice for the third and last time.

The movie was great in that Benjamin was able to see the world and experience life as a "regular" human being, but I really liked that the book followed Max in a more intimate way, and that the author really developed the characters of those closest to Max. I would recommend this book to anyone. Andrew Sean Greer did an amazing job building a captivating story line and did an even better job infusing plot twists and turns that unveiled more and more secrets about Max's life all the way until the end.

Max learned a lot from life as he saw it through a different lens, but he came to understand that in the end we all go through the same emotions and have the same desires. "Grow old and wise, my love....do not be alone. It does no good to be alone."