I would hesitate before recommending this book to the avid reader of literary fiction. It is full of symbolism, metaphor, and a character-driven narrative. Overall, I think the novel is heavy-handed in terms of exploring the theme of beauty being in the eye of the beholder. The protagonist is a canvas of disaster. His body is mutilated for public enjoyment and the more destroyed it becomes, the more he is adored. His blind girlfriend was a bit too much for me. She seemed to serve no greater purpose than to further highlight the "love is blind" theme. The supermodel who seduces the protagonist is a sterotypical character as well.
All in all, the literary qualities of the novel are admirable, but the narrative is so far detached from reality, that it would require greater literary acumen to get the average reader to suspend disbelief in this story.
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