I hesitated before picking up a copy of Joshua Braff’s novel “Peep Show.” On one hand, I didn’t really like his first book. On the other hand, I had two books in my hand for my daughter and Braff’s book had a “Buy Two, Get One Free” sticker on it.
Sold, American.
In the end, I’m really glad I took a chance on this book. Braff – yep, he’s Zach Braff’s brother – covers a lot of the same ground he does in his first book, but with a lot more success. This time the mother has the domineering attachment to Judaism and the father has designs on a different life. Mix all of this in with a weird and gritty New York peep show vibe, and you have a fun and emotional story.
The story of David Arbus has plenty of twists and turns. Making him a very human character torn between the various interests in his family made the book much more tolerable than Braff’s debut. I don’t remember finding many redeemable things about those folks.
He also does a great job at setting the scene without going overboard. His father runs a burlesque club which ends up turning into a porno house, but he doesn’t get graphic just for the sake of being graphic. I’m no prude, but some authors can really just go blue for the sake of it. that doesn’t happen here.
I hope he continues to work on his fiction and steps out of the comfort zone of his first two books. I won’t hesitate in picking up the next one.