Lydia Millet’s sixth novel is perhaps her best book yet and a worthy addition to an impressive body of work. The first book of what promises to be an intriguing trilogy, How the Dead Dream follows the story of T., a solitary boy obsessed with money.
Millet introduces the character of T. as he marvels over the faces of dead presidents, the flimsy feel of bills and the tinny taste of coins. Despite a loving childhood, he is increasingly convinced that a thick bank account is the path to true happiness. Moving into his late adolescence, T. becomes little more than a shell of a man, indifferent to his peers and his fraternity unless there’s a personal or monetary gain to be had by playing the part of a loyal friend.
As the story progresses, T.’s emotional void and love of money grows, transforming him into a deal-hungry California real estate developer sleeping with his coked-out neighbour and playing racquetball to hook investors.
In the second chapter, T.’s character abruptly changes after running over a coyote on a desert highway. As a result of this life-altering occurrence, T. returns home and immediately adopts a dog, finding rare comfort in her company. Soon after, while simultaneously meeting Beth, he finds himself taking in his mother after his father mysteriously leaves her. Beth, a real estate assistant with an almost saint-like persona, quickly becomes the one and only love of T.’s life.
Adding even more twists and turns to the plot, Millet consistently tests T.’s will until he is returned to a solitary state. T. becomes infatuated with endangered species after discovering that one of his developments has propelled the extinction of a desert rat.
In the same way that money consumed him in his youth, T. becomes obsessed with threatened species, and does anything he can to get near to them, from picking locks at the zoo to sleeping alongside a hippo pool in the wee hours of the night.
In the novel’s final pages, T. embarks on a Heart of Darkness-like journey, venturing deep into a remote jungle with the hope of getting a rare glimpse at a jaguar. Filled with beauty and reflection, these final passages leave you hungry for the next instalment.
Despite a storyline that unfolds like a saga, Millet's masterful pacing results in a rhythmic, poetic and humorous style that avoids overwhelming the reader. Millet’s view of man versus nature almost certainly sides with nature, but instead of being preachy, or falling into cliché, she writes with empathy and intelligence, speaking to the angst that lives within us.
