The premise is fascinating. Paul Redvers Brown’s MARGINAL MAN: Life of Emilio Goggio opens with a story about a promise Brown made when he was nineteen to someday write his grandfather’s biography. Decades later, Brown decided to make good on his commitment, and began the process of piecing together the broad strokes of his grandfather’s life. But what began as a heartfelt tribute soon transformed into a captivating historical overview of the socio-political climate (both domestically and abroad) surrounding World War II. All of which raises the question: just who was Emilio Goggio?

Like millions before him, Goggio immigrated from Italy to the U.S. in 1899 at the age of fourteen. Unable to speak English, Goggio immediately went to work for a father he’d never known. Through sheer grit and determination, Goggio worked his way through the Boston school system, graduated from Harvard, and eventually took a position at the University of Toronto. As Goggio established a life for himself (personally and professionally) throughout the 1920s, dramatic political change was afoot in his home country. Even from afar, Goggio felt conflicted sentiments surrounding Mussolini’s rise to power—something that Brown unflinchingly explores: “A story about my grandfather’s life cannot ignore his middle-age enthusiasm for the beginnings of the Fascist regime. Was his support superficial or sincere?”

And therein lies the crux of MARGINAL MAN: through telling the story of his grandfather, Brown offers readers a first-hand glimpse into the complicated perspectives of a generation. Where history books tend to offer reductive accounts of major conflicts, MARGINAL MAN pairs historical fact with a healthy dose of nuance. To that point, Brown’s use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods adds a sense of authenticity to his book. Key to this are the decades-old tapes that Brown uncovers at the onset of his work, which miraculously survived years of neglect inside a metal box. This allows Goggio to speak for himself, and affords Brown the opportunity to ruminate on his grandfather’s words with a sort of wisdom that his nineteen-year-old self simply didn’t possess.

For his part, Brown’s writing is incredibly refined. Setting aside his personal interest in the subject matter, the author successfully contextualizes even the driest of details, making for a compelling read cover to cover: “No warrant was needed. Internment camps in World War Two were aggressively speculative in selecting their targets—no charges, no evidence, no trials. Goggio didn’t need to commit a crime to be incarcerated. His love affairs with two countries at once was sufficient—especially nations at war with one another.”

Only a select few of us will live a life that others will read about. Often, biographies exist because of fame, infamy, or a messy combination of both. In this regard, Brown has sidestepped the traditional template and delivered something far more substantial. Above all else, MARGINAL MAN demonstrates the growing parallels between “then and now,” something that adds universal relevance to Goggio’s story.

With MARGINAL MAN: Life of Emilio Goggio, Paul Redvers Brown makes good on a decades-old promise and delivers a fascinating glimpse of the socio-political climate surrounding World War II via the life and times of a man who lived through it.

~James Weiskittel for IndieReader