Dec 28, 2009

Being Invisible | Characters

Wagner, Berger's protagonist, resembles other Berger heroes who begin as naive seekers and undergo a series of initiations to find enlightenment. Wagner is less obtuse then Russell Wren, the foolishly innocent private detective of Who Is Teddy Villanova? (1977) but he lacks the sophistication of the Reinhart who appears in Reinhart's Women (1981; see separate entry).

Aside from Wagner, all the other characters, although well drawn, play secondary roles. Oddly enough, Wagner's ineffectual qualities seem to make him attractive to those who know him best—his friend...