The novel Everyman begins at a funeral. Relatives and friends of the deceased take turns talking about him before burying him. After this situation the novel makes a turn and takes us to when the protagonist was about nine years old. During this time the protagonist lives in Newark with his parents and his older brother Howie. It was during his childhood when the protagonist develops a hernia and is hospitalized for it, the protagonist undergoes the operation but with much fear of death, without expecting the opposite is saved from the operation.

After the intervention the book takes us to when the protagonist was about thirty years. At this time our protagonist works in advertising as creative director, he has two children Randy and Lonny and divorces his first wife Cecilia. He is divorced from his wife because he wants to start a relationship with another woman, Phoebe, who after a few years will be his second wife. At the middle of 1989, the protagonist was about fifty years old he has got a new woman called Phoebe and a daughter called Nancy. But the man is not proud of his life decides to divorce Phoebe and marry a third woman, whose name we do not know because the book does not say so. During this time our protagonist is hospitalized due to the obstructions that he has in his coronary arteries and he undergoes coronary bypass surgery. Before leaving the hospital, he hires a nurse named Maureen to take care of him when he is discharged. The protagonist arrives at his house and the affection that arises between the one and the other causes that they develop a relation first of friendship and soon sexual. It is during this time when the protagonist’s father dies, when this happen the protagonist feels overwhelmed by the feeling of loss.

The September eleven attacks take place, and years later our protagonist decided to leave the city and move to New York to live in a retirement community called Starfish Beach on the Jersey shore. To make the time shorter, our protagonist decides to pursue his passion, painting, and even organizes painting classes for the other retirees who also reside there. At this time the protagonist is single, and like other times also must undergo several surgical operations because he still has congested arteries. In one of his classes he meets a student who is the same age as him, Millicent with her establishes a very close bond of friendship. Millicent is a widowed woman who misses her husband a few days after meeting our protagonist the woman commits suicide with an overdose of painkillers, and the protagonist decides to cancel painting classes.After this episode the author locates us the protagonist married to Phoebe but maintaining an affair with the secretary of his advertising office. The adventure lasts little because soon after he starts a relationship with a 24-year-old model named Merete. While the protagonist is celebrating in Paris with Merete his wife calls him telling him that his mother has suffered a stroke. When the mother is already buried, Phoebe asks the protagonist for a divorce and after the divorce she goes home with Merete.

Then the narrative explains the life of the protagonist as a retiree. One day he receives a call who tells him that Phoebe is very ill. A few days later he receives other calls that tell him that many of his advertising partners have died or sick, that’s when the protagonist decides to go to New York to visit his ex-wife and his friends who are still well. A few days later the protagonist is diagnosed with some other arterial blockage and is hospitalized.

As a mark for this book I put a 5, in order to fail it. Obviously I would recommend reading it to people who like drama novels, because in my opinion this novel is a drama book.

Author: Anna Castells