“…what came after the snatch became more and more important…It was all about him and the basement and what he did down there, who he would become, who he was meant to become. It was set and in motion. It was coming, Jason was sure of it…he was going to be ready.”

This is one of those stories that blindsides you right about the second page when you realize it is not at all about what you thought it was going to be about according to the title, which sets up certain expectations for the reader. We assume Jason, the young man walking down the road, confidently daydreaming of the day he will be famous, is daydreaming about the typical fame and fortune attained by rock stars and celebrities. But no. His fantasy; his fate as he believes, is that he will be “snatched” from the road and kept in a basement for months, until he escapes and finds fame in the transformation he has achieved under the duress of the abduction. Physically stronger; he’s been running in place and lifting heavy things, bored out of his mind. Mentally genius; “the movie scripts, plays and dialogues between characters that will come and go when he is all gaunt and feverish.” Spiritually pure and cleansed;  “He could learn to eat imaginary meals and taste every bite- donuts and hot barbecue wings – and stay all skinny and pure. That would be something. He could teach people how to do that afterwards maybe.”

As he fences himself off in his daydream, we learn about all the shit that’s piled up on the other side  –  he is quiet and picked on at school, his dad’s dropped out of his life and doesn’t think much of him. We understand and sympathize with Jason’s escapism in the form of this perverse fantasy. He’s been beaten so low by life that this is the only way he imagines he could ever get any attention.

It is the story he has been taught by a hundred Hollywood films – a man’s suffering transforms him into the slick hero – all who are weary, misunderstood, alienated and abused, you will get yours someday – fate will quarantine you until you become something better than yourself; something everyone can love. The American Dream?