Henkel’s nameless narrator resembles a host of similar narrators in quality, though not in plot. His musings reveal rhythms of life that we may often miss.

Henkel helps us appreciate the beauty of the ordinary. Our narrator can experience moments of awe with the ecstasy of a child within the daily routine of someone who is not quite lost—perpetually afraid that he is missing something important, and perpetually hopeful that he has found something unique.

He is normal, roughly average, and surrounded by friends and peers who are decidedly mainstream. Unlike his peers, he contains within him seeds of insight of creativity – seeds that we can only see because of our privileged position as readers.

Perhaps, then, we are too rash to assume that he is alone among his peers? As much as our narrator may appear to be the only character with the potential to grow, it is mainly by our illicit knowledge of his thoughts that we determine his potential.

It’s for this reason that Dirty Red Kiss is fundamentally hopeful. No matter how poorly our narrator stumbles along, his hidden seed of insight gives the reader hope that the most abject of us may yet go on to blossom.

If you like Salinger’s Holden Caulfield ("Catcher in the Rye"), M.T. Anderson’s Titus ("Feed"), or A. D. Nauman’s Arel Ashe ("Scorch"), you should read Dirty Red Kiss.

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