#71: What in the #@?!

A Review of Uzodinma Iweala's Anonymous

Anonymous is a 21-page short story about the sordid experience of a well-travelled consultant detained at an American airport on his return home from a business trip. It’s the fourth book in the Disorder Collection and the author’s fourth book published in 2019. Written in second person, the unnamed protagonist narrates his ordeal and reflects on his life. I read this book about a year ago, but never got around to writing the review until today.

“That life, like the computer programs you studied before you turned to consulting, is filled with glitches, and glitches, once identified, get resolved, however slow, however painful the process.”

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Although he is holding a blue passport and considers himself an upstanding citizen, he is subjected to additional scrutiny, which is not unusual for him, thanks to the colour of his skin. However, when he is asked to step out of the line and escorted to a room, he wonders what the problem could be.

“You know it’s probably nothing—enhanced security protocols and all that…Never can be too vigilant. Half the time they just make you sit here for a few minutes before they let you go home.”

After some time, two officers who say nothing to him come to take him to a private jet, where he is questioned about his trips. As he is being interrogated, he reflects on his life, from childhood when his family relocated to America for a better life. After the interrogation, he is stripped of his clothes and dignity before being locked up in a cell and chained to the floor. All he knows is that the people who have imprisoned him say that they have been watching him, nothing more.

“The question you have asked yourself over and over, between the random comings and goings of people who handle you but never speak to you beyond clipped orders—hands against the wall, head down, legs apart—is why have they noticed you? You suddenly remember the exact moment anonymity became your foremost desire.”

Unsure how long he had been locked up or when he would be released, he resorts to taking his life. He had lost all hope but recalling what his father once told him during a boxing match they watched together when he was much younger, he chooses to fight instead. I’m a fighter. I’m a fighter. He is later realeased without an explanation.

I would usually say what I think/feel about the book at this point but I genuinely have no words. I’ve thought about it a good number of times since I first read it, and I re-read it this evening to write this review but I’m still dumbfounded.

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Have you read this book? What did you think about them? Leave a comment, maybe? 😊

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