Dead Collections

A Novel

By: Isaac Fellman

Narrated by: Dani Martineck

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

A whirlwind romance between an eccentric archivist and a grieving widow explores what it means to be at home in your own body in this clever, humorous, and heartfelt novel.

When archivist Sol meets Elsie, the larger-than-life widow of a moderately famous television writer who's come to donate her wife's papers, there's an instant spark. But Sol has a secret: He suffers from an illness called vampirism, and hides from the sun by living in his basement office. On their way to falling in love, the two traverse grief, delve into the internet fandom they once unknowingly shared, and navigate the realities of transphobia and the stigmas of carrying the "vampire disease".

Then, when strange things start happening at the collection, Sol must embrace even more of the unknown to save himself and his job. Dead Collections is a wry novel full of heart and empathy, that celebrates the journey, the difficulties, and joys, in finding love and comfort within our own bodies.

©2022 Isaac Fellman (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“It’s tempting to slot into the most evident groove of interpretation with ‘Dead Collections’: that vampirism is a metaphor for being trans…But Sol’s story is much messier, much funnier, and a lot more interesting than a one-to-one allegory...[a] thoughtful, acebric, bracingly hopeful book."--New York Times Book Review

"Fellman thoughtfully examines gender, sexuality, and belonging through an unforgettable main character, who explores what it means to truly embody himself. This bold and self-aware story delivers the goods."--Publishers Weekly

"The instant spark of attraction between Sol and Elsie and the romance that unfolds between them is very sweet, very intimate and very, very queer. In general Sol is a great character, and his voice is the core of the novel. Like Fellman’s previous work, this is a memoir written from a unique point of view, and every part of Sol’s identity is important ... Dead Collections is a...literary achievement, a book so firmly anchored in space and time, and so rooted in queer and trans intimacy that it achieves [a] hyperreal quality."--San Francisco Chronicle

One of the best books I’ve ever read

it helped me see and understand myself and feel seen. And I enjoyed it! Anyone wondering about the complexities of gender and our relationship to our place in the world will find something here. Even when it felt scary to recognize myself in their characters I loved spending time with them. The story and narration are a pleasure to hear. The way it combines multiple forms of written media is so innovative and fun.

Good premise, bad delivery

I loved the premise of the story, however the protagonist was super whiny, which detracted from the story.

doesn't reach its potential, such a waste

This had a solid start with some truly creative notions, and even manages to lampshade some of the funnier tropes of vampire fiction.
I particularly liked how the parallels were drawn between "passing" as human and the transgender experience of "passing" as our gender identity. Well played! I also appreciated the allegory around vampires policing one another for engaging in live feeding (rather than passive transfusions) and how it ties to the way closeted gatekeepers try to police other queer people about living visibly as our authentic selves and insist that we only exist in clinics and the proverbial underground, never allowed to truly pursue our natures with other consenting adults.

The writing style is uncommon and the personalities presented are realistic. I adored Elsie/Else way more than I usually would a side character. The situational stressors of being trans, being visibly different, rearranging our lives around avoiding the light of day, all of it was pitch perfect here. I loved that.

HOWEVER: My hesitation began with the clunky insert of the OTW into dialogue, and the praise it is pointedly given throughout the rest of the book. It brought nothing of value to the overall story, undermined the exposition, and was hugely distracting at best. We get it, they're fanfic readers and fanfic writers. (So are we, many of the readers.) I also cringed hard at the "twincest!" line. Can we please not? Queer stories are already scrutinized harshly enough and framed in so many places as "perverse" [glaring right at you, Marvel]. Do we really need the incest fetish pointlessly associated with us? Come on.

It is along those lines that this OTW/AO3 worship poisons the tea. The org itself was a great idea in response to [Someone]'s overzealous litigating which targeted fanfiction itself for years. But the OTW's interior culture is extremely toxic and problematic, with their staff's outward treatment of the queer community topping a long list of other valid observations which have given pause to a lot of us seeking a place to safely drop our queerfics and engage with readers. In response to MANY of us asking their support staff for a way to block abusive users, the discourse has become so gross and condescending that a considerable number of us have outright pulled our content and gone elsewhere. In short, that platform is NOT the freewheeling bastion of queer-positive transgression this author insists that it is. I do hope that the author will rethink his evangelism of that brand if he is planning to continue bluntly advertising it in concurrent works marketed to our community.

Additionally, I was very put off by the way Sol's character repeatedly apologized and simpered to a coworker who was nothing less than a seething TERF who deliberately ruins his life and costs him his professional reputation. You can apologize once for living in the basement of your employer and be done with it; the constant overtures in person and in emails were frankly disturbing, given her unrepentant hatred for Sol's identity. This touches upon the toxic way mainstream (and even queer) culture insists that trans people be accommodating and apologetic at all times, the heaviest of respectability politics leveraged against us in every facet of our lives.

Overall I kinda enjoyed the book and might read others by this same author. But I do not personally recommend this as "queer representation" in any way, and I should warn prospective readers that there is some triggering content in quite a few scenes therein, none of which is resolved responsibly.