My Heart Is A Drummer by Adam Sydney

 

Donald is unlike any other man.  He falls totally in love with everyone he meets, male or female.  He loves them so totally that his only desire is to give them whatever they need or want.  That causes issues in his life.  He can't hold a job as he will walk out in the middle of the day if one of his people needs something.  He can't turn anyway new people which causes resentments and jealousy in the existing ones.  He never thinks of himself.

There is the couple that he lives with in a partnership, all three sharing a bed.  There is the woman who used to also be in the partnership but who has moved out and on with her life.  There is the elderly man who has no one else.  There is the artist who punishes Donald in humiliating ways in order to portray his discomfort in his art.  Since Donald will give anything to anyone, how long will his own existence endure?

Adam Sydney has written an intriguing treatise on the nature of love and what it means to put others ahead of oneself.  At first the recipients can't believe their luck, can't believe that anyone would love them so fiercely and love every facet of their character.  But inevitably, each relationship goes astray.  Jealousy comes in as Donald obsessively meets and loves new people.  But even more, such total love leads to reflection on oneself and over time, self-loathing at what is possible to do in the name of love.  This book is recommended to readers of literary fiction.