Me, Myself and Them

Wow, I really loved this book. It is so well written and a great story. Denis is a man who requires order in his life. Every day is mapped out precisely, and he does not deviate from the plan. His "roommates," 4 monsters, create a lot of mess and chaos in his home, but cleaning up after them keeps Denis in control. When an ex-girlfriend shows up in his life again, his sense of order starts to fall apart and he is suddenly forced to interact with the outside world again and confront the things that made him retreat from the world in the first place. I don't want to give spoilers (although some of them are obvious fairly early on), so I won't describe the plot more than that. I will say, however, that this book was fantastic and I absolutely loved it. It was funny and sad and sweet and weird and just lovely. 5 stars.

Dan Mooney took age old themes from the mental health spectrum and the stages of grief then turned them into his own unique story with a splash of heart and humor so you don’t get bogged down in an emotional quagmire. Mooney really captured the realism of the struggles involved when your mental health is being held together with scotch tape in his character Denis who is trying to live his life as predictable and ordinary as possible.

When that sense of order starts spinning out into chaos and his carefully crafted bandaid on his mental health starts to fall off you are treated to an intricate description of how he has to learn to deal with the world at large, people and facing his fears. He must learn to confront what he once he ran away from and Mooney handled this part of the character development and plot in a believable style.

With the issues of mental health becoming more on the forefront of modern society this book squarely places itself at the heart of that fight and deserves to be a part of the conversation.

Everything is at its best in Denis Murphey’s life. As long as things go as he plans them and as long as there are no odd numbers. His days are highly regulated: waking up at exactly the same time, the amount of minutes he needs in the bathroom, his breakfast. Once a week, he visits his friend Eddie who is in hospital and also once a week, he sees his mother. Everything is at its best. But then Rebecca reappears in town. His ex-girlfriend. How could she? And how can he avoid meeting her? He cannot and soon his life and the life of his four housemates is turned upside down.

At first, there were a lot of things I was wondering about. First of all, of course, Denis’ strange behaviour. That there is a kind of over-control impulse which limits him in his life is quite obvious. He has a fixed plan and he cannot tolerate any variation from it. He seemed to me to suffer from autism spectrum disorder due to his repetitive behaviour patterns and his restricted range of activities and friends. Soon, however, it becomes obvious that something has triggered this behaviour and that he certainly was not born with it. So, the big question arises: what has happened?

Second, the housemates. There are four of them, very singular creatures with distinctive features and somehow destructive traits of character. The fact that they talk to Denis all the time did not necessarily mean for me that they were humans, I guessed at times that they were cats, but this assumption did not really fit with everything in their description and behaviour. When I finally sorted out who or rather what they were, it all made sense.

It is not revealing too much of the story when saying that the protagonist is suffering from a serious mental health problem. A lot of what happens only happens in his brain but he cannot cope with it or even fight it. The demons that haunt him are real for the time being and what is in his head cannot get out or be explained to anybody. He is alone with his fight and several times prone to give up the war he is waging. I really appreciated the metaphor of the four housemates who inhibit Denis and who tell him what to do since this renders it possible for people who have never been in close contact with such an illness to understand not only how those affected feel but first and foremost how difficult it is for them to get back to a “normal” life and to be in command over their life.

All in all, a difficult topic masterly transferred into literature and thus a valuable contribution in the fight for understanding mental health problems.

This book was hauntingly fabulous! Every page was great! Well be recommending this!

Winner of the 2016 Luke Bitmead bursary, Me, Myself and Them is the story of one man's struggle against the monsters surrounding him. Following a tragic event 7 years ago, Denis never allowed himself to work through his grief and his mental health has suffered. Rather than facing his troubles, he's withdrawn into a different "universe" where he simply exists by following a regimented routine and behaves in an obsessive, compulsive manner focusing on cleanliness and hygiene. Denis has been his own worst enemy as is manifested by his four "housemates". His two remaining friends, Ollie and Frank, are used to Dan's strange ways and accommodate him. But when Dan's ex-girlfriend, Rebecca, re-enters his life, Dan's sheltered existence is threatened as the person he used to be begins to re-emerge and he is forced into an all-out war against the monsters in his house. Which parts of Dan's personality will persist?
This was a beautifully written, introspective story that was uncomfortable to read at times because of its rawness and astute insight into grief and mental health. Those parts were really well done. There were other aspects, e.g. the relationship between Denis and Rebecca, that I found hard to believe (perhaps I'm too much of a cynic). Overall though, this was as funny as it was tragic, and honestly, it was quite bizarre as well. I'll be looking out for further books by Dan Mooney. Excellent debut.
With thanks once again to Legend Press who keep publishing great stories and for providing me with these compelling ARCs.

‘He watched the people walk by, studying their faces. As they poured by on the busy street he saw the whole gamut of human emotion. It was visible on faces of every age, and race and was specific to no gender. A river of people, carrying a river of emotion, driven by a great intangible force. It scared him a little.’

Me, Myself and Them by debut author Dan Mooney is many things. It is a tough read. It is incredibly sad. It is a tearjerker. Yet in parts, the laughs reminded me of Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project. Overall, it can be summed up as a stunningly original novel that uniquely deals with themes such as loss, friendship and mental health.

The novel centres around Denis Murphy and ‘his foibles.’ Denis plans his day to the minute and refuses to engage with anyone other than his two best friends and his mother. This keeps human contact down to the bare minimum. ‘The battle for conversation is fought in trenches of politeness and references to the weather.’ Denis only knows happiness when he is rigidly following a routine, cleaning up after his unruly housemates or surrounded by even numbers.

‘Attention to detail is something that the normal person aspires to, but as far as Denis Murphy was concerned; if you don’t iron your socks, you’re living a lie, hiding your gruesome lack of concern from the world.’

Did I mention his housemates? As Denis himself says, ‘home is where the hell is.’ This is because he secretly lives with an intimidating clown, an overtly feminine feline, a zombie professor and a mute furball called Deano. The novel could have gotten very weird here but somehow Mooney makes it work. He even makes it believable. He does this by turning the fish out of water technique on its head. Denis is clearly a fish drowning in his own insanity yet unable to see the water all around him.

You would think that this novel would have too much going on to work but Mooney keeps the story going with the gentlest of touches. As we read on, the author begins to drip feed the reader with details of a tragic accident. These scenes are the novel’s true heart and soul and I was greatly impressed with how they were handled.

The shining light of the novel are Denis’ friends and his ex-girlfriend Rebecca who try to help Denis become himself again. Like any battle with mental illness, the events are not all plain sailing. There are many setbacks along the way as Denis fights to conceal the true nature of his thoughts and we are kept guessing right up to the end. These friends steal the show with their patience and dedicated loyalty to Denis.

Mental health is the hardest of issues to write about compassionately but Mooney nails it here using the most unexpected of devices. To conclude, I can’t speak highly enough of this novel. You are just going to have to read it yourself and marvel at it’s brilliant ingenuity.

“I think if you examine yourself very carefully you’ll know why, but then, you’ve never been overly fond of introspection have you? It hurts, so you don’t do it. Eventually you’re going to have to. It shows you what you’re worth to yourself.”

Mental health is a serious and not easy topic to write or to read about. I have to admit, I'm absolutely NOT looking forward to reading more books with a protagonist who has serious mental health issues.

But I’m so glad that I gave this book a chance. It is so different from what I read and what I imagined. It was like a breath of fresh air.

A heartbreaking tragic but nevertheless hopeful and beautifully told story of Denis and his housemates, and his difficult journey back to life.

I was surprised to read that this was the author's debut. Dan Mooney writes like a seasoned author. I really enjoyed this book. The fact that it was about mental health issues made me assume that it would be depressing. Another surprise. Mooney found a way to write an original book about mental health, tragedy, and emotional issues in such an interesting, humorous, and entertaining way. The story started off a bit slow for me but soon after started on a quick pace and sent me on an emotional ride, sometimes funny, sad, frustrating, frightening, uncomfortable, heartbreaking, and heart warming.

I appreciated that Mooney slowly built up the story. The details of the tragic event that started Denis on this altered life path is trickled throughout the book, introducing the reader to new details each time it is mentioned. It keeps the reader a bit in the dark, confused, and helps them relate to Denis who feels the same. It also keeps the reader invested and interested throughout the novel. Rather than dropping the story as a whole and leaving it as a simple backstory and justification of his behavior, the reader has to continue re-living the memory, like the Denis. This brings the reader into the story itself.

The characters are relatable and full of depth. Denis is quirky and frustrating yet sweet and full of heart with an underlining of hope and positivity dying to come out and be seen and heard. You end up feeling defensive and protective of Denis, you root for him and want him to succeed. The monsters are life-like and well written, with their own character arcs. You forget they aren't real. Their descriptions are terrifying and heartwarming, funny and infuriating. I found myself emotionally invested in them as well. Rebecca, Frank, and Ollie are good secondary characters, showing patience, impatience, struggle, support, and love - helping keep the "old" audacious and confident Denis alive.

Everything about this book, including the uplifting and empowering ending was great. I highly recommend this book and hope to read more from Dan Mooney.

This look at grief and survivor’s remorse was heartbreaking, funny and menacingly intense. The unique approach will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but this was very well done from a psychological point of view.