Steven Mills has reached a crossroads. His wife and son have left, and they may not return. Which leaves him determined to find out what happened to his own father, a brilliant, charismatic professor who disappeared in 1984 when Steve was twelve, on a wave of ignominy. As Steve drives up the coast of California, seeking out his father's friends, family members, and former colleagues, the novel offers us tantalizing glimpses into Steve's childhood-his parents' legendary pool parties, the black-and-white films on the backyard projector, secrets shared with his closest friend. Each conversation in the present reveals another layer of his father's past, another insight into his disappearance. Yet with every revelation, his father becomes more difficult to recognize. And, with every insight, Steve must confront truths about his own life.
Porter writes in a style that is lucid and unadorned; in outfitting his prose, he skipped the metaphor shop, though he does make an occasional segue into lyricism to capture moments of repose amid the discord ... The Imagined Life would be a downer were it not endowed with sympathy and propelled by the mystery behind the Mills family’s undoing. You want to find out what happens.
[The] nostalgia is artfully crafted by setting ... A deft exploration of male relationships, a mediation on how much we inherit from those who raise us, a study of shame set across the Aids epidemic, but above all, it’s a poignant, achingly beautiful story of human love, and the lengths we’ll go to for those we care for.
The Imagined Life toggles between description—of Steven’s trip up the California coast to question his father’s brother and former colleagues (the least successful part of the novel)—and evocative, fine-grained recollections of Steven’s preadolescent life. Mr. Porter’s conjuring of al fresco backyard faculty parties fairly gleams ... Most poignant, though, are the accounts of Steven’s tentative, unsettling sexual connection with his best friend.
