I had the opportunity recently to read a new novel by the extremely talented writer Daniel Damiano, and it was as always a joyful experience. When I describe the subject of it, you might wonder how I could say that it was joyful, but to me, reading the work of a writer as gifted as Daniel makes for a reading experience that is one of the high points of this book lover's week. When I have a good book in my hands, I can literally get lost in it, and when I have a busy schedule and not enough time to keep reading, I find myself trying to make time in my day to go back to the pages where I follow the adventure of the lives written in them and go on a journey of discovery that takes me to places I have never been before.
Daniel Damiano is an award winning Playwright, Screenwriter, Poet, Award-Nominated Actor, Voice Over Artist and Novelist. I've written about him before in these pages for his poetry, his novels, his plays and his performances that I've had the wonderful gift of experiencing. When I began reading this new novel, I knew that I would enjoy it, though the topic was one that was far from something that I would usually run to explore. The title is "Graphic Nature" and it tells the tale of Edmond de Capitoir, the Chief Executioner in France in 1913. Though not the usual description of a story that would bring enjoyment in the reading for someone like me who doesn't normally like stories that follow the darker topics in life, because this is a Daniel Damiano novel, the writing itself is a joy, as are the character descriptions, development, and ultimately the story itself that is told.
Reading a novel by Daniel Damiano is an adventure because he is such a gifted storyteller. His experience and craft as an Actor and Playwright shine their light into each characterization and each moment. When the members of the cast are met, there is such depth and resonant description in the way we learn about who they are that even those characters that are unsavory give us reason to keep reading about them and discovering more in the spinning of this excellent writer's tale.
The arc of the story follows the growth and in a way the redemption of the main character, Edmond de Capitoir, as he goes about what is for him his daily life. I say that it is in a way a redemption, because he is not an evil man, and we see a love of beauty and a gentleness about him slowly emerging from where it is trapped underneath the exterior of a perfectionist's precision. Although his job is fearsome and gruesome to many, to him it is one he takes pride in. It is a profession he inherited, but as we sometimes inherit behavior that is learned, it is something that he has the choice to pursue or not to pursue. It is this choice that he stands by, viewing it as a badge of honor until he begins to learn that there is another way to live. Through a series of events that in all of his careful planning and his fierce protection of his own inner life he would never have imagined possible, he begins to experience emotions that are so powerful that the existence he has intricately crafted as a way to keep the outside world at bay is completely changed. The journey he takes, both in a physical and emotional sense, begins to release the weight and pain that have been hiding behind his exacting exterior, allowing him to open his heart and mind to the possibility that his life could be very different from what he always believed it must be. In this process he finds release from the prison of the past and the memories that have haunted him in dreams and visions, and as we follow him on his path we begin to understand that beyond the fear of taking steps in a new direction we can find that all things can be made new.
There will be no spoiler alerts in this post, because I want to make sure that everyone who reads this novel comes to it without knowing the delight that is in store for every reader. An Artist like Daniel Damiano has such a special and valuable gift that opening one of his books or experiencing one of his plays is like finding treasure. There is the craft of the Actor and the craft of the Writer that goes into his work and creates something so uniquely powerful. When Daniel Damiano crafts his stories, he creates something that brings new ideas, new people and new vision to life.
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