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Fiction A to ZNovember 2015
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"Punting the prairie dog into the library was a mistake." ~ from Claire Vaye Watkins' Gold Fame Citrus
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| Mothers, Tell Your Daughters: Stories by Bonnie Jo CampbellIn this third short story collection from author Bonnie Jo Campbell, mothers and daughters feature heavily, weighing the consequences of bad choices, facing difficult situations in the present, and worrying about their futures. Marginalized women -- poor, alone, abused -- ruminate on their lives; some stories ultimately offer hope while others do not, a hallmark of Campbell's work. As with her other collections, the 16 works presented here are "commanding, piquant, and reverberating stories about womanhood besieged and triumphant" (Booklist). |
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| City on Fire by Garth Risk HallbergCity on Fire is an expansive, discursive debut that caused a great deal of buzz for months before it published in October. Set in New York in the 1970s, with plenty of plot and a huge cast of characters, it may remind readers of doorstoppers like Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities or Don DeLillo's Underworld. Naturally, it won't be for everyone, but readers looking for an immersive, kaleidoscopic experience will enjoy this complex novel full of cultural tidbits. |
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| The Mark and the Void by Paul MurrayFrenchman Claude Martingale is a successful investment banker in Dublin, but outside of work his life lacks...well, pretty much everything. This becomes unavoidably clear when a down-on-his-luck novelist named Paul starts observing Claude for his new novel. And while Paul's appearance influences Claude for the better, Paul's not actually shadowing Claude for a book -- rather, he plans to rob the bank where Claude works. Poking fun at the global financial industry and the recession it prompted in Ireland and elsewhere, this sardonic, witty novel is "another page-turner with smarts" from the author of Skippy Dies. |
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| Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye WatkinsIn this dystopian novel, a drought destroying Southern California has caused a government-mandated exodus of the population; only a few individuals remain. These include a soldier gone AWOL and a former model; after taking in a toddler they decide to venture inland in search of better prospects. Employing the history and legends of the West to create a vivid background to their journey, this debut novel (after the award-winning short story collection Battleborn) stands out among other stellar dystopian novels like Edan Lepucki's California or Paolo Bacigalupi's The Water Knife. |
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| The Sellout: A Novel by Paul BeattyIn this satirical take on race, politics, and culture in the U.S., a young black man grows up determined to resegregate a portion of an inner city, aided by a former Little Rascals star who volunteers to be his slave. This illegal activity brings him to the attention of the Supreme Court, who must consider the ramifications of this (and other) race-related cases. Readers who can handle provocative language and racial stereotypes will appreciate the glee that African-American humorist Paul Beatty brings to his critique and questioning of black identity; others may want to take a pass. |
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| The Circle: A Novel by Dave EggersSilicon Valley is an easy target (have you watched the HBO television series Silicon Valley?), but in The Circle, things get to an entirely different level. Mae Holland feels like she's won the lottery by landing a job at the biggest, most powerful Internet company in the world...until she learns that the company's promotion of sharing everything on social media is inching towards complete surveillance of everyone. This cautionary tale may have you re-thinking your social media interactions; for an equally menacing if less overtly terrifying workplace satire, try Helen Phillips' The Beautiful Bureaucrat. |
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| Calling Invisible Women: A Novel by Jeanne RayFifty-ish Clover Hobart has felt unappreciated by her family for a while now, but things come to a head when she wakes up one morning to find that she has literally become invisible. Her husband and son don't even notice; after all, she's still managed to provide them with a meal and clean clothes! Finding a support group of other invisible women helps, as do her efforts to use her invisibility for good by foiling bank robbers and bullies alike. A gentler social satire than the others in this list, Calling Invisible Women offers whimsy as well as empowerment. |
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| Lost for Words: A Novel by Edward St. AubynThis send-up of publishing and literary awards is just the thing for fans of Steve Hely's How I Became a Famous Novelist. In Edward St. Aubyn's Lost for Words, the Elysium Prize goes to a British novel of outstanding literary merit; this year, by accident -- and perhaps because the judges are entirely unqualified and don't want to read more than a couple pages -- a cookbook (it's so modern!) makes the short list. Scandals erupt over improper relationships, a revenge scheme gets dangerous, and the whole shebang teeters on the edge of disaster. Voracious readers will especially enjoy excerpts from the nominated books, as well as attempting to identify the real literary lights whose work is satirized within. |
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| The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy WayneAt eleven, Jonny Valentine is a huge pop star, discovered on YouTube but now packing football stadiums. He's a smart kid but lonely, manipulated by his label and his manager (his hard-drinking mother) and missing the father he hasn't seen in years. Told from Jonny's perspective, this view of celebrity and fame illuminates some of the less admirable aspects of the music industry, but the sometimes naive, sometimes wise-beyond-his-years popstar gives this satirical novel some real heart. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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