Book Review: The Hypókrisis Mirror

Book Review:
The Hypókrisis Mirror 
By Raymond Fortunato

Review by Julie Carpenter
 

​This new volume of stories by Fortunato is a character-by-character analysis of what it means to be a human, particularly a male. It’s a consideration of thought, action, and consequence in a varied array of stories, some tend philosophical, some realistic, some speculative. The protagonists find themselves in systems that overwhelm their humanity and attempt to find ways of fighting back with a mixture of results.

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​One of the main themes of the book seems to be that expected roles, societal standards, and accepted wisdom may be at odds with morality and happiness. Characters find that fulfilling family, religious, and cultural roles can lead to disruption, despair, or harm—from a woman who achieves an internal peace that simply doesn’t suit her life, to a man trapped in a totalitarian society, to an archaeological find with a promise that veers out of control. The characters often find their initial assumptions, even foundational philosophies, are misguided. To extricate themselves from the traps of government control, corporate overreach, or crumbling family systems, they must try something different, think for themselves, and leave norms behind.
The stories with male protagonists are especially poignant as these men often find themselves trapped in competitive friendships, chasing ambition to their own detriment or the detriment of others, or trapped by corporate jobs that demand moral acquiescence. In one case, a protagonist’s inability to ask for help, his masculine assurance that he can handle things on his own, leads to dark results and mental anguish. These stories ask the reader to thoughtfully consider the binary trap in which men often find themselves, caught between colossal systems and the desire for individual meaning and heroic action.  Again and again, Fortunato’s protagonists, find themselves pushing back against nearly irresistible forces, from masculine competition to oppressive governments, with nothing but their own interior thoughts and actions as tools.
 
The characters vary in likability, rationality, and job titles, but they all have one thing in common; they carefully consider their own place in the world and how they might change it for themselves and others. This is a timely and interesting book with preternaturally relevant themes for this era.

​Bio:

Raymond Fortunato writes in Westchester, New York. He has a B.A. in history and mathematics and two master’s degrees in history and English Literature. He’s interested in humans, how they relate to themselves, to each other and to the worlds beyond themselves, both seen and unseen. His stories exploring what his characters think but do not always share with others or even know themselves. The stories are surprising because the author begins writing with no preconceived idea what the characters will choose, of their own accord and nature, to do. He is interested in and has studied many areas including but not limited to art, music, literature, history, writing, mathematics, physics, astrophysics, psychology, philosophy, religion, economics and politics. This broad range of interests, along with a very active imagination, allows him to write a wide variety of compelling stories.
 
Fortunato has published two short story collections: Joyful, Sorrowful and Ordinary Mysteries and The Hypókrisis Mirror and Other Stories. His play, Nothing’s Plenty For Me, a dramady about climate change was presented by the Xoregos Performing Company at Theatre Row in NYC. He has produced four music albums. His short stories have appeared in Drunk Monkeys, Evening Street Review, The Scarlet Leaf Review, Every Day Fiction, The Write Launch, The Bangalore Review, and other publications.

Raymond Fortunato Author Home

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