FREEDOM, by Jonathan Franzen

Freedom is a deep, exhausting and impressive book centered on a dysfunctional American family, Patty & Walter Berglund, their parents, and children. By means of the interesting technique of a third-person autobiographical narrative written presumably as therapy for Patty's depression, the reader learns about the roots of her personality and about events hidden in the main narrative. The story complexly shifts among narratives of Patty, Walter, Richard Katz ( Walter's best friend who is a rock musician playing out a curious blend of loyalty & betrayal to Walter), Joey (W & P's son, who is the apple of Patty's eye) and his wife Connie (daughter of the Berglund's redneck neighbors in St. Paul, MN). A love triangle predominates the story - between Patty, Walter & Richard. There are two other love triangles in the plot. The story, set in the 1990s and very early 21st Century, is told with a great deal of heart yet avoids sentimentalism. It's an impressive novel indeed.

For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/books/review/Tanenhaus-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

SO MUCH FOR THAT, by Lionel Shriver

So Much for That takes us on a powerful and devastatingly emotional ride. Published in 2010, The story is about a man, Shep Knacker, who is fed up with pursuing the American Dream and has a dream of his own: to escape to a fantasy "afterlife" of ease in an exotic paradise. His elaborate but un-acted-upon plans are thwarted by the reality of a diagnosis in his wife, Glynis, of a very rare and deadly form of cancer. The story shows the playing out of this rather depressing reality, but there are interesting and moving twists and much uncertainty about the details of how it will all end. Embedded in the main narrative is the story of another disaffected American family, that of Shep's co-worker and long-time friend who has a disabled daughter and serious self-esteem problems. The novel is full of rage and focuses on how terminal illness can affect a relationship. It's also about hope, despair, pride, love, etc. All-in-all, it's a strong narrative about a profound topic: what does it mean to live and die with dignity?


for a review of the novel from the Guardian, click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/mar/28/lionel-shriver-so-much-for-that

THE ECSTASY OF INFLUENCE, by Jonathan Lethem

A must-read for any hard-core Lethem fan (like me), I found this collection (basically a hodgepodge of individual critical works, ruminations and short fictional pieces) fascinating and enjoyable in the extreme. Having attended a lecture by Lethem in Singapore in November 2014 at which he spoke on  incorporating popular culture into his novels, reading Ecstasy was like a long footnote to his comments on that day. To say that his book's content was wide-ranging would be an absurd understatement yet it all somehow fits together as a statement of Lethem's aesthetic and political orientation. Much of it is very personal, and indeed, his statements about cultural artifacts (e.g., James Brown, Norman Mailer, Philip K. Dick, Bob Dylan, superheros, abstract expressionist painting, etc.) construct a mental universe that is fascinating and enlightening. Highly recommended reading.

For a review of the book by the NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/books/jonathan-lethems-ecstasy-of-influence-review.html?_r=0

MAP OF TULSA, by Benjamin Lytel

Map of Tulsa is the first novel by American writer Benjamin Lytal. It's a story of a young man who escaped a bored adolescence in Tulsa, Oklahoma for an intellectually vibrant student life in NYC and later returns to have a relationship with the unattainable girl he admired as a youth. He also comes to terms with his love/hate relationship with his hometown. The plot plays out both expectantly and surprisingly, and it's a strong, vivid story that is, while not absolutely routine, uses routine elements (girl, hometown, coming of age) well.

For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/books/review/a-map-of-tulsa-by-benjamin-lytal.html

SKIPPY DIES, by Paul Murray

Skippy Dies is a fun, often hilarious and moving novel about adolescent boys (& female objects of desire) who attend a boarding school for rich kids in Ireland. It was published in 2010 by promising Irish writer Paul Murray. The protagonist, Daniel (Skippy) Juster, dies at the beginning of the book,and the story retraces the events eventually leading up to the death. Although colored with some dark reality, the book has a lot of heart and traces the lives of the boys, in particular: "troubled" Skippy, his computer-nerd roommate Rubrecht, skeptic Dennis, over-sexed Italian Mario, drug-addled Carl, and Skippy's love (infatuation) interest Lori as they stumble through adolescence and all that it entails. The other main character is Howard "The Coward", history teacher, who is no more enlightened about life (and esp. love) than his teenage students, and makes his own contribution to the plot. It's a wonderful book that balances humor, pathos and insights about life while avoiding sentimentalizing.


For a review of the book from the Guardian, click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/06/skippy-dies-paul-murray

AMERICANAH, by Chimamanda-Ngozi Adichie

Americanah is the third novel female Nigerian writer Chimamanda-Ngozi Adichie. It is the winner of the 2013 National Book Critic's Circle Award. It's the story of a strong-willed Nigerian woman who moves to the United States and undergoes a series of survival struggles, relationships and a certain degree of cultural assimilation. The story highlights her insights about race in America, which was a non-issue in her homeland but always present in the US. In order to cope with her culture shock, she decides to start a blog about race in America, and becomes famous for her insights in the blogosphere. Underlying the story is that of her childhood romance with Obinze, who has his own survival story as an immigrant to England. The novel is warmly written yet frank and insightful. The outsider status of the fish-out-of-water protagonist allows for a discussion of race in America that is eye-opening and moving. It's an excellent, engaging and thought-provoking book.

For a review of the book from The Guardian, click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/apr/15/americanah-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-review

A DISORDER PECULIAR TO THE COUNTRY, by Ken Kalfus

The 2006 black comedy A Disorder Peculiar to the Country, by Ken Kalfus, is one of the more interesting novels set in the post-911 period. The novel starts with a shocking and ironic premise that an unhappily married couple, both of whom narrowly escape the attack on the Twin Towers, rejoice at first at the thought that their spouse may have been finally and expediently taken out of their lives. Unfortunately, this does not prove to be the case, and the ridiculously savage divorce battle rages on through the entire book, including romantic interludes with an FBI agent, a half-baked suicide bombing plan, and an unsolved Anthrax poisoning scare. The book captures the hysterical and unbalanced psychology of the immediate post-911 era in NYC and brilliantly pokes fun at it by examining the impact on an already dysfunctional family. It's an entertaining and engaging mixture of comedy and pathos that is very readable.

For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/books/review/Brownrigg.t.html?_r=0