On the eve of his twentieth anniversary, a man receives a note from his wife that calls into question her consent on the first night they spent together, spurring a re-examination of all the pivotal relationships in his life, past and present, forcing him to ask: Am I the man I thought I was?
"Reading Robert Travieso is like free-falling from a plane. . . . His voice's momentum will seize you, his story's fierce energy will levitate you, and his piercing details will leave you as poked full of holes as a sieve." -Susan Choi, author of Flashlight
"Travieso is one of the funniest, most original writers I know. I can't wait for the rest of the world to discover his brilliant mind." -Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation
As Dean, a mild-mannered English teacher, dons a suit and prepares to join the party downstairs celebrating twenty years with his wife, Jane, he finds a letter in the toe of his dress shoe titled "open when alone" that upends his life as he knew it. What Dean thought was a cherished piece of the couple's shared history-their first night together-may not have been as consensual as he assumed.
Shell shocked, Dean is left to mine his memories not only of this singular encounter, or even of the last twenty years, but of pivotal moments tracing his entire existence. Throughout this moral inventory, he struggles with uncomfortable insights into relationships he's had with several women: his mother, his high school and college girlfriends, and of course Jane. As Dean attempts to excavate truth from the wreckage of his memory - What else did he get wrong? - he must also contend with how to atone in the present, and whether he is the right person to step in when one of his teenaged students finds herself in perilous waters.
Immersive, shockingly funny, and blisteringly honest, Open When Alone is an explosive debut, reminiscent of Jenny Offill's Dept. of Speculation but from a husband's perspective. Travieso has written a stunning portrait of a man in crisis and an unforgettable interrogation of the moments that make a whole life.
