Book Review: Infinity: An Anonymous Biography by Nico Laeser- Fiction

Nico Laeser in his work of fiction entitled Infinity – An Anonymous Biography narrates an unusual life of a young man from childhood to young adult. The salient points capture the ill-health of the boy for a span of twenty years. His parents cannot cope with his illness. Cleverly the author does not mention the type of illness but creatively expresses how the boy is being treated in a hospital and stays there for two years where he undergoes psychotherapy sessions until he is ready to be checked out. The boy returns to a home where his parents appear different and sort of ignore him. He eventually leaves home and finds himself living with three other teenagers who look after him as best they can; he is not even a teenager at this point.

Laeser deftly takes the reader into the world of being homeless out of choice that leads the main character to becoming an addict through association and friendship of the three older teenage boys. Yet, amid this personal turmoil there is a ray of sunshine—this boy is a natural artist; on his fourteenth birthday, his room-mates buy him an easel, paint brushes and paint. He moves from doing drugs to painting works of art. There is a juxtaposition of sanity versus insanity. It is a gripping tale that illustrates how this boy becomes destitute and is able to survive through drug trafficking and creating works of art.

The author introduces an art gallery owner who befriends the young teenager, accepts his fine paintings, sells them, and is a force majeure in his re-habilitation from doing drugs to only painting beautiful art. For a while they become firm friends but eventually they go their separate ways. By this time, the young artist is in his mid-twenties and ready for a renewed life as an artist. But Laeser turns the story around to a very different ending.

Infinity – An Anonymous Biography is a story about life under unfortunate circumstances yet has layers of great accomplishment coupled with deep disappointment. It uncovers truths that keeps the reader on edge throughout.