The Friends of Allan Renner


Fiction - Drama
361 Pages
Reviewed on 03/25/2021
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Author Biography

Dave J. Andrae was born on the Autumnal Equinox of 1979 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he grew up. He has bounced around a bit and currently lives in Florida. Andrae is a novelist and multidisciplinary artist with a background in film and music. Both of his books to date, The Friends of Allan Renner and Rem’s Chance, are character-driven, blended-genre works with literary fiction elements. Andrae holds a BFA in film from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and some of the work he’s been in involved in has played at festivals. As a writer-director, his films and videos include The Plants Are Listening, Self-Important Empirical Film #3, with Voice-over, Robert on his Lunch Break, Fire in the Neighborhood, and Fugazi’s Last Stop in Wisconsin. Though once a card-carrying cineaste, with a big appetite for his chosen medium, in his forties he has been semiretired from cinema and tends to watch movies less. Starting in the mid-nineties, Andrae has played music, on and off, in various live bands and studio side projects. The most active of these in recent times has been his solo recording project Tired of Triangles, which released its second album, The Havanese, in 2023.

    Book Review

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Friends of Allan Renner is a work of fiction in the interpersonal drama, quirky fiction, and humor sub-genres, and was penned by author Dave J. Andrae. The work is intended for the general adult reading audience and contains some scenes of a sexual nature, moderate swearing, and violent references. Our protagonist is the titular Mr. Renner, a man in his late thirties who appears, at first glance, to have little direction in life. As Allan sits in his home attached to his parents' house, a cavalcade of interesting friends and acquaintances make their mark on his life, and a strange paranormal twist sends him on a journey to consider the deepest secrets of the universe.

Author Dave J. Andrae has crafted a most engrossing work of fiction that masterfully balances the surreal and the real, the sublime and the ridiculous, to deliver a humorous but poignant look at the meaning of modern life. In terms of its character development, Allan and his friends and family have stacks of personality, complete with engaging unique dialogue, amusing little details and references, and their own slot where they fit into the protagonist’s life and contribute to the overall story. The plot is well crafted to flow naturally between these different encounters, cleverly shifting attention as the larger plot points build up over time and bring the work to a thought-provoking conclusion. Parts of it read like a very engaging stage play, but with all the little detailed trappings to enhance it as a novel. Overall, I would highly recommend The Friends of Allan Renner to fans of unusual fiction and masterful character portraiture.