Brian by Jeremy Cooper
A Review by G. Gordon Gritty

I read a review or a short blurb of Brian in the New Yorker a few months ago. The description immediately caught my eye – a lonely British man takes up going to the cinema on a daily basis. Or something like that. It was a compelling description; enough for me to immediately try to acquire a copy, but no luck. All sold out. 

Since I’ve become fascinated with Jim E. Brown and more recently Prime Mutton – the concept of somebody doing anything out in the world and publishing it for the world to see is compelling. Certainly, I realize, that bar is quite low. I’m doing it right now. But it is a book like Brian – which I found online over a week ago and immediately ordered – that hits on all creative cylinders and is in short wildly moving and inspirational. 

I knew I was going to like it based on the plot, which in addition to the New Yorker blurb, is also summarized on the back of the actual book itself. And now that I think about it, whoever wrote the New Yorker blurb may have pulled a large part of their description from the back of the book or some uniform press release. Not that that matters. I get it. 

Writing about the book, I feel a kinship to both Brian and the author Jeremy Cooper. Cooper writes about Brian and at multiple points I felt as if Brian was writing about himself. The detailed descriptions of Brian’s movie viewings and feelings toward each movie plus the mechanical diary of Brian’s simple daily life of work-cafe-movies are in the same spirit. It is like the narrator and Brian are in a self-awareness competition. The narrator takes an early lead, able and willing to point out Brian’s social ineptitudes, or solitary lifestyle (to put it more kindly). As the years go by and we get deeper into the book, we see Cooper showing Brian’s increasing freedom, which is made possible by a life circumstance known as retirement. Freedom comes with the territory. 

Back to what makes Brian so fascinating creatively is that I went into the whole ordeal as a casual reader, ready to take on the book as any other. I skipped the reviews and praise, which there is a lot. Sounds like something Brian would do. I came out on the other side feeling charged up and ready to create. Just like all of the filmmakers and actors mentioned. But I also felt a bit like Brian – ready to consume. For creatives, there is a cycle of creation and consumption. For Brian, there is only the consumption. And he delighted in being a buff, a lover of film. He became so swept up in the daily film routine that like a monk, he took up a monastic life of film. We are constantly reminded of this throughout the book. Helpful reminders. 

Brian likes routine. Brian does not like change. Why does Brian behave like this? We learn of his tough childhood; it appears that there is a strong case to be made that Brian is on the autism spectrum – undiagnosed. Back to consumption. I loved that Cooper (or Brian) remarks at length on the films – the genres, stylistic choices, and all that. I found myself wanting to compile a long list of the films. And I still might. Again, very much in Brian style. But it is this obsessiveness of Brian that is rarely, if ever, annoying. In fact, in the context of the book at large, we need all the nerdy film stuff to spice things up. As a mumblecore devotee, I don’t need much – the monotony of Brian’s life doesn’t leave me wanting more. I’m thinking of someone who has trouble accepting the nature, whatever that is, of this book.

That Brian created a certain level of obsession in me – to read it whenever I had the chance and, now, to remark on it? And more stuff in the future…probably? Maybe I am the target audience. Again, it’s challenging to make a sweeping critique of Brian, society, whatever. But one can and that is something. For me, it comes down to the creative vs. consumption situation and the balance of it. I saw so much potential in Brian – I (and I’m sure many other readers) were just waiting for him to make his movie or write his screenplay. Brian’s existence could have been sadder or more evil. We see a progression of both as he ages and, though hard to admit with true conviction, elements of personal growth. I’m happy with Brian and I recommend it!