“A Brief History of Seven Killings” is about Jamaica in the 1970s, and constellates around the attempted assassination of Bob Marley. It’s got crime, politics, sex, spies, ghosts, pop stars, gangsters, history, intrigue, drugs and family: pretty much everything you could ask for in a novel, told by a rich cast of characters, each speaking in his or her own distinctive voice. Every part of it feels just right, from the cynical pissing contests of the CIA officers to the prickly relationship between two Jamaican sisters.Your number one book of the year: In a sentence or two, would you explain why it leads your list?What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Something you really liked deserving of an extra look?
I hope in time more people find their way to Amy Greene’s fine second novel, “Long Man.” Set in a Tennessee town about to be flooded for the sake of the TVA, Long Man’s tale of a missing child amid nearing devastation revives Faulkner’s tone and long view of history without mimicking his prose.
“On Such a Full Sea,” by Chang-rae Lee. Dystopian novels are class novels by other means—whatever calamity has disrupted the earth has also disrupted society, so the narrative emphasis shifts toward who gets ahead and who gets shut out. Lee’s novel is as great a proof of that concept as I’ve read, a superbly woven vision of haves and have-nots in a broken, not-very-distant future.
Emerald Garner proves that it’s possible to support the police while opposing brutality and excessive force. Maybe those of us who lived through New York’s crime wave and the white backlash have to leave the stage before we figure out a way to do both.Heather Havrilesky’s “Mansplanation Nation,” about two decades of the nonfiction bestseller list, for Bookforum.What was the best essay that you read this year?What was the strongest debut book of 2014?Was there one book, either on your list or off your list, fiction or non-fiction, which seems to best encapsulate America in 2014?
Not to keep talking about “Thrown,” but it is pretty illustrative of some major social differences in America. Again, I don’t think I read enough new books this year to properly answer this question.
I’m going to go with The Wallcreeper by Nell Zink, using “strongest” in the sense of “most pungent.”Was there one book, either on your list or off your list, fiction or non-fiction, which seems to best encapsulate America in 2014?What is the book from 2014, either from your list or not, fiction or non-fiction, that is most likely to join the canon, or still be discussed 20 years from now?What is the book from 2014, either from your list or not, fiction or non-fiction, that is most likely to join the canon, or still be discussed 20 years from now?What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Something you really liked deserving of an extra look?
Alice Munro’s collection, “Family Furnishings,” which I didn’t put on my list because it’s selected stories, all previously published—she is 83 and has announced that she is retired from writing, something you can do after you win the International Man Booker and the Nobel Prize. But it’s a really gorgeous book, not just great stories (of course) but beautifully designed, with a lovely cover. It would make a fine gift.
Helen Oyeyemi’s “Boy, Snow, Bird,” which both channels folk and fairy tales and finds new ways to apply them to recent events. (See also: Porochista Khakpour’s “The Last Illusion.”)
Tobias Carroll is the managing editor of Vol.1 Brooklyn, and his work has recently appeared in Tin House, Midnight Breakfast, The Collapsar, The Collagist, Joyland, Necessary Fiction, and Underwater New York. He recently completed a short novel, and is at work on another.
Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. We’ll know why when we get there.What was the best essay you read this year?
Jason Zengerle’s “The New Racism” in The New Republic–about persistent structural racism in Alabama.
Daniel Levin Becker is reviews editor of The Believer.What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Something you really liked deserving of an extra look?What was the best essay that you read this year?What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Something you really liked deserving of an extra look?What is the book from 2014, either from your list or not, fiction or non-fiction, that is most likely to join the canon, or still be discussed 20 years from now?What was the strongest debut book of 2014?
I’m going to go with “Unremarried Widow.”
“A Brief History of Seven Killings” is about Jamaica in the 1970s, and constellates around the attempted assassination of Bob Marley. It’s got crime, politics, sex, spies, ghosts, pop stars, gangsters, history, intrigue, drugs and family: pretty much everything you could ask for in a novel, told by a rich cast of characters, each speaking in his or her own distinctive voice. Every part of it feels just right, from the cynical pissing contests of the CIA officers to the prickly relationship between two Jamaican sisters.Your number one book of the year: In a sentence or two, would you explain why it leads your list?What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Something you really liked deserving of an extra look?
I hope in time more people find their way to Amy Greene’s fine second novel, “Long Man.” Set in a Tennessee town about to be flooded for the sake of the TVA, Long Man’s tale of a missing child amid nearing devastation revives Faulkner’s tone and long view of history without mimicking his prose.
“On Such a Full Sea,” by Chang-rae Lee. Dystopian novels are class novels by other means—whatever calamity has disrupted the earth has also disrupted society, so the narrative emphasis shifts toward who gets ahead and who gets shut out. Lee’s novel is as great a proof of that concept as I’ve read, a superbly woven vision of haves and have-nots in a broken, not-very-distant future.
Emerald Garner proves that it’s possible to support the police while opposing brutality and excessive force. Maybe those of us who lived through New York’s crime wave and the white backlash have to leave the stage before we figure out a way to do both.Heather Havrilesky’s “Mansplanation Nation,” about two decades of the nonfiction bestseller list, for Bookforum.What was the best essay that you read this year?What was the strongest debut book of 2014?Was there one book, either on your list or off your list, fiction or non-fiction, which seems to best encapsulate America in 2014?
Not to keep talking about “Thrown,” but it is pretty illustrative of some major social differences in America. Again, I don’t think I read enough new books this year to properly answer this question.
I’m going to go with The Wallcreeper by Nell Zink, using “strongest” in the sense of “most pungent.”Was there one book, either on your list or off your list, fiction or non-fiction, which seems to best encapsulate America in 2014?What is the book from 2014, either from your list or not, fiction or non-fiction, that is most likely to join the canon, or still be discussed 20 years from now?What is the book from 2014, either from your list or not, fiction or non-fiction, that is most likely to join the canon, or still be discussed 20 years from now?What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Something you really liked deserving of an extra look?
Alice Munro’s collection, “Family Furnishings,” which I didn’t put on my list because it’s selected stories, all previously published—she is 83 and has announced that she is retired from writing, something you can do after you win the International Man Booker and the Nobel Prize. But it’s a really gorgeous book, not just great stories (of course) but beautifully designed, with a lovely cover. It would make a fine gift.
Helen Oyeyemi’s “Boy, Snow, Bird,” which both channels folk and fairy tales and finds new ways to apply them to recent events. (See also: Porochista Khakpour’s “The Last Illusion.”)
Tobias Carroll is the managing editor of Vol.1 Brooklyn, and his work has recently appeared in Tin House, Midnight Breakfast, The Collapsar, The Collagist, Joyland, Necessary Fiction, and Underwater New York. He recently completed a short novel, and is at work on another.
Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. We’ll know why when we get there.What was the best essay you read this year?
Jason Zengerle’s “The New Racism” in The New Republic–about persistent structural racism in Alabama.
Daniel Levin Becker is reviews editor of The Believer.What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Something you really liked deserving of an extra look?What was the best essay that you read this year?What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Something you really liked deserving of an extra look?What is the book from 2014, either from your list or not, fiction or non-fiction, that is most likely to join the canon, or still be discussed 20 years from now?What was the strongest debut book of 2014?
I’m going to go with “Unremarried Widow.”
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