Max Lakeman And The Beautiful Stranger

by Jon Cohen

Max Lakeman, an ordinary family man living a tidy, average suburban life, pursues a mysterious seductress conjured up out of his own powerful imagination and secret fantasies

Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance, Fantasy, Literary Fiction, Mystery

210 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Max was a lover of dogs the way some men are indiscriminate lovers of women. Nothing turned his head more quickly than a dog trotting down the street or cutting through a backyard. Dogs could do no wrong; no amount of garbaging, rug pissing, or flea infestation could alter the course of Max’s true love.”
― Jon Cohen, Max Lakeman and the Beautiful Stranger

My review:

Imagination is a powerful thing.

Are you a dreamer? Do you spend much time in your head? Do you imagine other worlds, have imaginary conversations in your heads with people?

Do you yearn?

If so..this enchanting little book maybe for you.

I do not really want to say to much about the plot. I went in knowing little, which is a good idea.

This book is about what is mentioned above. Imagination. memory . Love, fantasy. magic, other worlds in which exists things nobody except the dreamer would think about.

And it all manifests itself in Max.

Max is a quirky, fun, off beat lawn care specialist. Lawn care...not a job all people would love but Max loves it. With passion.

And he loves his dog Bilky. His wife, Nellie. His kids. His best buddy. Yes..Max is a good man. And Max loves.

But Max is one of those people..you know the type. The ones who are always in their head. The type who see the world and what's in it, just a tad bit differently.

I am one of those people. I bet many of you are. Readers in general tend to have that aspect to them.

Max lives in two realities. The real world and his imaginary one, filled with luminous ponderings, conversations with John F Kennedy and many moments where he spaces out, lost in day dreams.

But what happens when imagination coincides with reality?

Max has never cheated on Nellie. NEVER! They have a great marriage.

Until the beautiful stranger comes along.

She glides out from the Rose Bushes. She billows out from the sea. Who..who..is this exquisite, mysterious and stunning stranger and what does she want with Max?

I am stopping here.

The book is odd..like Max. It is also lovely and ethereal. And there is a Whimsical quality about this book. It is pretty short (although longer than a Novella) but the characters are etched in humility and are so exquisitely drawn. And we love Max. And Bilco. And Nellie. It is amazing how this book has such a timeless feel. It felt like it could have been written last year..or one hundred years ago.

Of coarse there is more going on besides the Beautiful stranger. And trigger warning: Max's wife is a nurse and her days are described so there will be scenes in hospitals with patients who do not survive. I myself skimmed those scenes. They are not for everybody and I am one they were not for. You can still read the book as these scenes do not dominate and can be skimmed over.

Now I must warn of spoilers as I want to discuss the end. Before I do so, let me have the honor of recommending this enthralling little book that is packed full of sparkling words and atmosphere, and filled with love and dreaming and simple beauty. I think many may love this.

END SPOILERS:

The end has been discussed. My opinion is..we are not meant to know. More on that in a minute.

My first thought was that she was Aphrodite. If you are familiar with Mythology, you know Aphrodite, rose from the sea. That scene in MLATBS reminded me of the stories of Aphrodite.

But I am not so sure. I also started shifting my opinion feeling that she was a lovely siren whom Max summoned with his mind.

Or she was simply a product of Max's very active imagination.

Was she real? I believe so. To many people saw her. Unless this was one long dream (and I am not ruling out that possibility) she would have had to exist.

Or maybe not. LOL. There is so much about the world we do not know. I think it comes down to what the doctor told Nellie: there are things and people in other worlds we cannot begin to imagine. But Max can.

Maybe we are not meant to know what happened. Because there is so much about the Universe we cannot and do not understand.

So, to sum up..a strangely beautiful and beguiling book that is most definitely different. I will not forget Max, Nellie and Bilco anytime soon.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely morality tale, mixed with a little fantasy, about the sacredness of marriage and the power of forgiveness.

This is my third Cohen book, and I have enjoyed every single one.

[Lynette Lark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book. It's about a man who is content with his life and whose life is so mundane that, like all of us, he is compelled to daydream. I can relate. When I have a repetitive chore, I sometimes zone out. I am a professional daydreamer and I'm okay with that, but sometimes, my daydreams produce results--not always bad. It's almost like you dream something into existence, and that is what is happening to Max Lakeman. He daydreams a beautiful, sensual woman right into existence and he has a relationship with her, but she has a husband just like Max has a wife who tries desperately to reconnect him to reality before his unreality takes him into a danger zone of no return. The book starts out slow but picks up rapidly so that you cannot turn away, and you must follow this to its completion.

[Kathy jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where did this come from?

My second book by this author. The first one, Harry’s Trees, was delightful. This one is like watching a horrific traffic accident and not being able to look away. I’m convinced the author has ADD and used a lot of cocaine when he wrote this story. Taken metaphorically, the married couple experiences a near-fatal blow. Will they survive? Will their friendships grow past middle school? Part make-believe, part letter to Hustler, this story is a train wreck of family secrets.

[Leslie Andersen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping this would be as enjoyable a read as the other Cohen book I just read (The Man in the Window)...but unfortunately, all the sex, marital infidelity, and bad language spoiled it for me. It was a different kind of story, with quirky, interesting characters; too bad writers don't realize the immoral stuff isn't necessary.

[Amira Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely read, normal morphing into gentle romantic fantasy.

[Diana Nielsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprising, lovely read.

I really was smitten by this book. I had absolutely no idea where it was going. Loved the ending. It made me smile.

[DeAnn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm baffled that no other reviews mentioned the RACIAL SLUR in chapter 8 (the N word) that had absolutely no place in this book. I was already struggling with the plot of this book when that word came up, something I can only [BARELY] tolerate if it has a specific purpose in a book (e.g., a historical fiction book where this word was unfortunately part of the vernacular of the time, or maybe a horrible character saying it to show he is racist). That one word caused me to drop the rating one star because really why did it even need to be there when it added nothing except a horrid word that shouldn't even exist?? I almost DNF'd and threw this book away at this point, but since I was so close to the end, I decided to power through.

That aside, I was already pretty upset with the book because it seemed so many people in this book were cheating on their spouses with no remorse, framed as "he's still a good man" 🙄🙄🙄🙄 and " he still loves his spouse and kids." The 'magical realism' of this book just served as an excuse for the cheating, OHH SHE'S SO ETHEREAL HE HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO CHEAT... 🙄🙄🙄🙄 I thought maybe if I kept going, there would be a moral or a reason why this was happening, some symbolism for what the larger message is, or even perhaps some pushback from the wife, but no she just takes him back! WTF!?

HOW THE HELL is this the same author that wrote Harry's Trees? It's unfortunate because the writing is so beautiful, I love how this author puts words together. But the no matter how gorgeous the words sound together, how much can you like a book when the content of the message, what the words are forming together to say, is so ugly?

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the author’s other books so I decided to read this one. The author’s writing style involves slow storytelling, with beautiful descriptions.

I didn’t like this book as much as the others, but it does a great job exploring marriages and the struggles couples can face. What makes couples stick together even when things get hard? How can we get complacent in our relationships, leaving us vulnerable to thinking we may want to explore other options?

I wasn’t sure if Max had an overactive imagination or if he had a mental illness. It doesn’t really matter because the slow slide into considering another relationship is a warning to all of us. Max loves his wife, his children, and his job. He seems very happy, but still gets caught considering walking away from it all.

The side stories help support the whole story, although it took a while for me to connect the dots. I’m not sure if the author is still writing books, but I hope so. He’s a great writer.

[Bernadett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max has everything, flourishing lawn moving business, a gorgeous hard working wife, 2 kids a house in a good neighborhood and upkept relationship with his brother.
When a stranger moves into the neighborhood and stumbles upon Max, the man who never wanted anything in his life other than what he has, is immediately enamored with the strange ethereal woman.
He starts seeing this woman everywhere like a vision, and his own wife at work starts to experience untoward advanced from a Doctor as she is a resident nurse and he has just arrived and already having a lot of success in saving patients.
She shuts him down and turns towards her own homelife where she starts to suspect that her husband, Max has something to hide.
I loved how simple and complex it was in all at once, just the right length and how it did the moral of the story without trying to spoonfeed it to you.

[Lydia Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though he has written one of my favorite books, this one was not a fave. This just didn't make any sense to me. Maybe, maybe, if there hadn't been a Mr. Zeno, but this was just too.........too.

[Debbie Berris · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a beautiful book

This wondrous novel is full of nostalgia for the past, the humdrum of the present, and the desires and fears for the future. Conjuring hopes of something more, Max arrives at the sure knowing of what it means to be happy.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have complicated feelings about this one. I always enjoy Cohen's writing and humor. I did not enjoy reading about the main conflict. And while I had hoped for something that would erase what the main character had done, the real ending was hopeful.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible. I finished this thinking and hoping something would happen that would tie things together so that this story made sense. That something never came. UGH!

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the magical realism is Harry’s Trees. I did not like it in the book.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too bizarre for me.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

[Paulette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could get the time back that I spent reading this book. I just don't get the point and I absolutely love Cohen's book "Harry's Trees."

[Lorlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet charming book, little magical realism.

[Linda Spyhalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love his books! Usually not my style but have read three of his books and will look for more!

[Tom Leland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written well before the author co-wrote the screenplay for The Minority Report.
This isn't masterful writing - and in places it's just too pat. But there are themes many of us can relate to, about marriage, suburbia, fidelity, finding the balance between self-gratification and making a family work. The story would've worked just as well without the fantastical aspect -- but it wasn't so distracting that I couldn't easily just let it be.

[Annette Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book when it first came out and remember just loving it. Seeing it again makes me want to reread it, and reading the sample of his other book makes me think I won't be wasting my time. And that I'll love it just as much now as I did then.

[Beth]

Strange

Is Max insane? Is this a story of a man on the edge of a mental break down or even suicide? How come Nelly and others can see and interact with the Zeno's? A bizarre story that makes you want to keep reading if only to see what bizarre things happen next.