I, Lloyd Stollman

Lloyd Stollman is retired from the Dept. of Motor Vehicles. He lives in almost total social isolation in a bungalow of the edge of South Central Los Angeles. His isolation and his sense of being contained by forces beyond his control are so relentless that one day he outfits himself as a cowboy, and presents himself to the world as a bit player in famous movies. His success in passing himself off as another person is liberating, and encourages him to explore other personas he can inhabit. But there is a downside, which he realizes when one of his characters turns out to be a killer. Rather than Lloyd's portraying a character of his own creation, he is being inhabited by his characters. If he thought he could control them, that they allowed him liberation from social repression, he is ultimately disabused. He is no more in control of them than he was of himself, the anonymous, middle-aged white man known as Lloyd Stollman. The "character" of Lloyd Stollman is often sympathetic, even likable, sometimes funny in his surprise when things go wrong. This is a sinister book, but one also laced with humor, a thoroughly enjoyable read.