Here is the soft angle of her cheekbone. Here is her nose. Here is the print of a lizard. Here I am, sleeping, shimmering, in the corner. Here is her head on your stomach. Here is Mom reminding you how big you are. Here is you alone. Here is the second hand. Here is a frog frozen in ice in a forest puddle. Here is that very thing. Here is a cube in the tip of her nose.
Viktor Melamed's new book is a textual exploration of chaos, a crystallization of time, and a search for "that one." Structured like an entropic flow, the text envelops and transports readers back to childhood, memory, and the future. Melamed provides the voice, anatomy, and character of someone who cannot be named here: that would be a spoiler and a clue to the main plot. However, a thoughtful reader will understand what is at stake within the first few pages. We are accustomed to considering her a passive element of life and thought, but here she is an aggressive, toxic, and despotic cohabitant, interfering in everything from sex to geopolitics; she lies, consoles, manipulates, and torments. Melamed writes like a painter: easily, economically, and aggressively, shifting registers, speeds, and optics. This is a text you can read in an hour and immediately start over.
Viktor Melamed is an artist, illustrator, writer, translator, and musician. As an illustrator, he has worked for The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and other magazines. He is the author of "The Machinery of Portraiture: The Experience of a Viewer, Teacher, and Artist" and "The Diagonal Frog: Metaphor in Creativity and Self-Education." His first novel, "Pgt Dixon," was shortlisted for the 2025 Dar Prize.