DEPT. OF SPECULATION, by Jenny Offill

Dept of Speculation is an intense, deeply personal story of a marriage, told from the perspective of the wife (the book uses the 3rd person, in fact) over an extended period of time. The wife is a teacher, and goes through being newly married, having a miscarriage, then a daughter, then a rocky relationship with her husband, emotional distress, etc. The "plot", in as much as the book actually has a plot, is carried via a series of vignettes that are loosely connected to various periods or major or minor actions that take place. Perhaps for that reason, it is punchy and intense and forces the reader to fill in the gaps and internalize the emotion that is often only suggested. Rather than feeling abstract, this technique forces the reader to engage emotionally to a surprising extent. The book was listed as one of the 10 best books on 2014 and deserves the accolades it has received.

For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/books/review/jenny-offills-dept-of-speculation.html?_r=0

BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me is a piece of non-fiction. That's an understatement. As a reader who "likes to think of himself as white", as Coates would say, I find it interesting to read a book that is clearly not addressed to me. At least not directly. The book is framed as a letter to the author's 15 year-old-son, telling him about the reality of being black in America, surrounded by the majoritarian "dream." To the extent that I can comprehend what it must be like to live under those conditions in a country that prides itself on being "the greatest country the world has ever known", I can only find the message courageous and disheartening. Coates does not offer his son any real hope that the dream will change, but just wants him to survive, which is not a given considering the real dangers facing young black men in America today. Two personal observations: (1) race is the defining feature of life in America and there is a legacy of sick race relations that has not been resolved; (2) just as Fredrick Douglass said in his discussions of slavery, racism negatively impacts both the oppressed and the oppressor. Without being able to truly understand it, I can feel the blast of the rage that motivates the book. Oprah said that it's a "must read" for everyone, and I do agree with her assessment.


For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/books/review/ta-nehisi-coates-between-the-world-and-me.html?_r=0

WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS, by Daniel Mendelsohn

Waiting for the Barbarians is an entertaining eclectic collection of critical essays on a wide range of literary and pop culture works (e.g., Spider Man, Mad Men). It helps that the author is a classicist, as he reviews both classical works (e.g., The Illiad), and more modern works (e.g.,Franzen's The Correction), often through a classical lens. He also discusses several works from a gay or queer theory perspective that seems appropriate to his choices (e.g., Wilde, Sontag, Edmund White). He is an exacting and outspoken critic with well thought-out views that are written in a wonderfully readable style.

For a review of the book by The Guardian, click here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jan/06/waiting-barbarians-daniel-mendelsohn-review

THEFT: A LOVE STORY, by Peter Carey

Theft is a fascinating novel by Australian-born Booker Prize winning novelist Peter Carey. It's the story of the protagonist, artist Michael (Butcher) Boone, a modern artist with working class roots who rose from the family butcher shop in small-town Australia to the international art world ( although on a downward spiral as the novel begins). The plot revolves around the theft of a piece of art from the home of Michael's neighbor in north NSW. Michael was accused of the theft but along the way (before and after) connects with the mysterious Marlene Lebowitz, who is married to Oliver, the son of Jacque Lebowitz, who happened to have painted the missing painting. Oliver also happens to be the authenticator of Lebowitz's art. An added complication is that Michael is guardian and babysitter to his mentally deficient younger brother, Hugh, who seems to have a kind of autistic condition. The story is narrated alternately by Michael and Hugh, who give rather different insights into the meaning of the plot. The dual narration adds dimension and interest. Although the plot is complex, the focus on the three main characters and their relationship provides an emotional anchor.


For a review of the book from The Guardian, click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/may/27/hayfestival2006.hayfestival

LITTLE FAILURE, by Gary Shteyngart

Little Failure is a humourous and touching memoir  by writer Gary Shteyngart. The book riffs on, and is an homage to the long traditions of emigre lit, Jewish lit, Russian lit, growing up novels, memoirs, etc. (Nabokov, Roth, Salinger, etc.) It's told with considerable heart and humor of the self-deprecating kind. My fav comment from the book is that unless you come from a Jewish, Russian, Italian or Chinese family, you won't be able to comprehend the claustrophobic expression of love/control a family can dish out (I'm paraphrasing here). Whether or not it makes sense for such a young man to write a memoir, the book works as an open-ended narrative of a past dealt with.


For a review of the book by NY Times, click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/books/review/little-failure-by-gary-shteyngart.html?_r=0

THE CORRECTIONS, by Jonathan Franzen

The Corrections, published in 2001, is the second novel by Jonathan Franzen  I've read (the first being Freedom), and I was interested enough in his style to take another dip. The book does start jerkily (as the NY Times reviewer mentions) but I wasn't tempted to put it down. The guy can obviously write with great power and wonderful turn of phrase. The story of the dysfunctional Lambert family is saved from banality by the truly interesting characters and their complex interplay. The book is long, intense, and the narrative complexly structured, but it is well worth the effort.

For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/09/books/review/09GATESTW.html?pagewanted=all

THE ZERO, by Jess Walter

The Zero is the second post-911 novel set in NYC I've read recently, the other being the blackly humorous A Disorder Peculiar to the Country. Both books highlight the paranoia and absurdity of the immediate post-catastrophe period in NYC. The strange narrative style of The Zero cleverly mirrors this surreal cultural climate by means of a telling the story of the protagonist, Edger Remy, through a series of disconnected vignette-like episodes mirroring his own strange psychology. Remy seems to have some sort of disassociative disorder that results in blackouts from which he recovers in spurts - these recovered moments propel the narrative, but in an unpredictable and disorienting way. It's a very interesting style and a compelling novel.


For a review of the book from the NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/books/11masl.html?_r=0