The Danger of Being Me is the debut novel written by Anthony J Fuchs. The book was independently published through Amazon.com's Kindle Select Program on 16 July 2012 under the independent Acceleron Press imprint. The trade paperback edition was made available through the print-on-demand company CreateSpace.
The story follows Michael Everett through March of 1998, during his senior year at Prophecy Creek High School.
Summary[]
Michael Everett prides himself on making sense of the absurd and the arbitrary, and he'll be the first person to tell you so. He creates meaning where none existed; he writes. But daring to make himself the author of his own life carries a risk that he never imagined when he writes an anonymous poem to a girl he doesn't even know.
That one impulsive decision drives him down a blind path of dangerous secrets, and nothing can prepare him for a journey that takes him to the bottom of his own fractured psyche, and all the way back to the beginning of his own story. To the one place he could never escape.
Because before he can find the light, he must confront the darkness.
Characters[]
- Michael Everett
- Helen Regan
- Ethan Gibson
- Winsome Donne
- Phil Michener
- Ben Kelerick
- Amber Chandler
- Regina Everett
Composition[]
The first draft of the novel ran 122,805 words in length, and was written over the course of more than thirteen years, between 22 June 1998 and 9 November 2011.
The second draft of the novel ran 102,166 words in length, and was completed on 20 June 2012. Material cut from the manuscript included a flashback sequence that became, with revision, the stand-alone short story "Coming Home."
The cover was created by Keri Knutson on 12 July 2012 using a photograph by David Schrader.
On 31 May 2016, a copy of the novel appeared at the 1:07 mark in the trailor for Kay Brandt's film adaptation of Selena Kitt's erotic novel Babysitting the Baumgartners. The film was released on 21 July 2016.
Related material[]
A set of short stories and poems, expanding on several of the novel's ancillary characters, is planned for publication under the title Dreams and Other Dangers.
Reviews[]
- "This Metaphorical Diving Board," by Tara Hayes (01/17/13)
- "Everything and Nothing," by Ashley Hall (02/05/13)