I first picked up Highly Illogical Behavior at the recommendation of Mrs. Bock. I had never read a book with a protagonist who had a mental illness that was present in the behavior and the overall plot proceedings throughout the novel. I usually tend to stay within the genres that I am familiar with - romance and realistic fiction. Most of the books that I read are about how a man and a woman fall in love in spite of emotional and physical strife. Highly Illogical Behavior, however, was about a man who had such severe social anxiety that he developed agoraphobia, thus rendering him incapable of leaving his house. Solomon Reed, the protagonist, was even terrified of having friends, due to how foreign the concept was to him - “Now he knew it to be absolutely true: He had a friend. And he was terrified of her.(65)” Rather than focusing on the relationships formed by mentally stable characters, the novel focused on the relationships formed by a man who had never experienced any normal social interaction.
I chose this book as a last resort, given that I originally wanted to read a nonfiction book. I was told that it was good, but it was nothing special. However, I found that it took such an unusual take on …show more content…
I did not realize, until reading Highly Illogical Behavior, that anxiety, depression, and agoraphobia were forms of illness, as well - “So, preliminarily, I’d say he’s got severe anxiety disorder that’s contributed to a very persistent case of agoraphobia.(35)” The fact that Solomon was homosexual seemed a bit stereotypical to me, given that it indirectly connected homosexuality to mental deficiency, which is entirely not the case. However, Whaley portrayed such an odd character quite well, which was demonstrated by the fact that I began to almost feel what Solomon was
I chose this book as a last resort, given that I originally wanted to read a nonfiction book. I was told that it was good, but it was nothing special. However, I found that it took such an unusual take on …show more content…
I did not realize, until reading Highly Illogical Behavior, that anxiety, depression, and agoraphobia were forms of illness, as well - “So, preliminarily, I’d say he’s got severe anxiety disorder that’s contributed to a very persistent case of agoraphobia.(35)” The fact that Solomon was homosexual seemed a bit stereotypical to me, given that it indirectly connected homosexuality to mental deficiency, which is entirely not the case. However, Whaley portrayed such an odd character quite well, which was demonstrated by the fact that I began to almost feel what Solomon was