"The Enthusiast" by Charlie Haas

There are a few tests I put a book through, to rate how much I liked it. One is if I would rather read the book than play a computer game. Another test is whether I found it difficult to put the book down. Another criterion is if I felt a closeness to the characters, either wanting to be friends with a few, or on the other end of the spectrum, how passionately I hated them. And finally, if I find myself casting the movie version, I know my soul is enmeshed with the pages. In the case of "The Enthusiast", by Charlie Haas, the book passed all of the above tests. I was asked to review this book byIJustFinished.com. At first glance, there was no indication that I would enjoy this story as much as I did.

The characters are not extraordinary, but the protagonist Henry Bay is quirky. And Henry is extraordinary because he is both provincial and non-descriptive, yet idiosyncratic. Because he goes from job to job and one town of residence to another with such optimism, he is reminiscent of Voltaire's "Candide". He works for magazines dedicated to various passions, such as kite-buggies, tea, and crocheting. With each assignment, he learns about another enthusiasm and adjusts to a new town and relationships. Not quite identifying with an enthusiasm of his own, and not attaching himself with any permanency to any one place because of the instability of the magazines he works with. I found myself on a journey with Henry through many towns and cities, as well as various hobbies and obsessions. Henry meets lots of different hobbyists and aficionados of all topics before settling as most of us eventually do, into marriage and more steady family living.

But his relative stability is shaken when his scientist brother finds himself attached to the dangerous enthusiasm of one of Henry's magazines. His risky pastime becomes catastrophic as he is pursued by an enemy of one of his research ventures. The resulting devastation turnseverybody's lives -- Henry and his family's, as much as those of his brother Barney, Barney's wife and two kids, and their parents -- completely upside-down. In the end, Henry re-examines the consequences of the choices we make about our lives and how we choose to find some enthusiasm and excitement to enrich our drab existences. Henry is a lifelong learner and uses each transformation and relocation as an opportunity to expand his mind and his world. As a reader, I found myself wanting more of Charlie Haas' first novel, and anxiously await his next book.