The word "invisible" kept popping into my head while reading this. Though the word wasn't used until near the end of the book, the idea of invisibility is hard to escape or ignore from the very first page. There are invisible people in the world, of course. They are the people who we see with our eyes but don't make any connection with, for whatever reason. We don't see people serving us in restaurants or hotels because they are not meant to be seen. We might give them a polite nod or a kind word or a generous tip, but we don't really see them. There are also those people that we don't want to see - the disabled, the homeless, sometimes just the different. We look at them and then just as quickly look away, they're invisible.I myself have been invisible at times, sometimes by choice, at other times due to circumstance. I remember going from middle school to high school; I had been popular and seen up to that point in life, but suddenly all my attributes had become liabilities. I had a big personality and a bigger mouth. I reveled in attention. That all changed when my peers became sophisticated enough to realize that I was different from them. I was an effeminate boy and suddenly I was a target for scorn and violence. I no longer wanted to be seen. To deal with the situation, I did what countless gay boys have done. I forced myself to speak the way my father spoke. I monitored my walk and mannerisms. I did nothing to draw attention to myself. I became invisible.What does all this have to do with the book? This book is about an invisible man. He chose to be invisible and he pays a high price for it. I found myself identifying with him so much that I had that terrible, wonderful reaction we sometimes get when we're really in the pages. This is a truly great novella. Highly recommended.