Withdrawal: A Novel
Michael Hoffman
Review by Alyce Wilson

In his previous collection of short stories, The Empty Cafe, Michael Hoffman populated his tales with people who were unable to connect, who stood outside of society, whether through fate or by choice.

In Withdrawal, he follows Len Fishman, a prodigal son who returns to his small home town of Nectar to help his family deal with his father, who has moved to a geriatric center.

Reluctantly, he reconnects with friends, teachers and acquaintances, all the while unraveling truths about his father, his town and himself. Len discovers some journals kept by his father and tries to make sense of them in light of the father he knew. He struggles, as well, to make sense of his own motivations for reforming relationships, including an affair with a married woman.

Michael Hoffman has a talent for understated characterization. Like Hemingway, he makes sparse use of adverbs and adjectives, so that those he does use retain their force.

When it comes to plot, Hoffman is more like J.D. Salinger. On the surface, this is a "quiet" book, with much of the action taking place internally. But it is exactly this understated crafting of this deceivingly quiet story that gives Withdrawal a feeling of authenticity.

Len Fishman could easily be any of us, running from his past and yet inextricably connected to it.