Thanks for this! Great review, and now I don't have to read it. Count me among those with zero energy or interest to read about that world ever again. A parallel here with Ross Barkan's novel, which is all over my feed. Seems like a good dude, and I dig his political writing! But I read and adored Underworld 25 years ago, when I lived in that town. Don't know that it's aged all that well, but I felt little hunger for City on Fire and none for Glass Century, with the same towers on its cover and same decades & city between them. NYC itself, the stage for such a huge, rich swath of American stories for our entire lives, feels less and less interesting to the rest of us now. The NYC retort would be that it's provincial to dismiss the city—but it's just as provincial to insist on the universality of stories from NYC, no? But maybe I’m being too grumpy. Maybe that's me just living abroad.
Great review - I personally enjoyed the book quite a lot but I'm also not aware of many other similar novels (would be curious about what other similar books you'd suggest as reference points).
I think the point about the timing lag of a novel being topical is very interesting - given how long they take to write, I think it's forgiveable and makes a certain amount of sense.
(but perhaps I'm biased in that I released a novel about incels about half a decade after they peaked in cultural relevance)
I enjoyed it too! The timing lag thing is forgivable and makes sense yeah, it helps if the book isn't highly topical or pegged to some news cycle or trend.
As far as other similar novels, I'm not sure there's been many that are openly satirical but I feel like recently there have been a lot in that vein—as I mentioned Love Affairs of Nathaniel P, a bunch of more recent light-hearted ones about DEI hijinx, "Perfection" making fun of Berlin ex-pats, there's another recent star who I can't think of her name right now.
Nathaniel P was a great novel and I can see the comparison, although Sleepers feels more like a coda to the era and is, in my view, sufficiently distinct.
Will look up Perfection - seems like an interesting find.
Regardless - tremendous review, lots of analytical gems here!
Thanks for this! Great review, and now I don't have to read it. Count me among those with zero energy or interest to read about that world ever again. A parallel here with Ross Barkan's novel, which is all over my feed. Seems like a good dude, and I dig his political writing! But I read and adored Underworld 25 years ago, when I lived in that town. Don't know that it's aged all that well, but I felt little hunger for City on Fire and none for Glass Century, with the same towers on its cover and same decades & city between them. NYC itself, the stage for such a huge, rich swath of American stories for our entire lives, feels less and less interesting to the rest of us now. The NYC retort would be that it's provincial to dismiss the city—but it's just as provincial to insist on the universality of stories from NYC, no? But maybe I’m being too grumpy. Maybe that's me just living abroad.
Great review - I personally enjoyed the book quite a lot but I'm also not aware of many other similar novels (would be curious about what other similar books you'd suggest as reference points).
I think the point about the timing lag of a novel being topical is very interesting - given how long they take to write, I think it's forgiveable and makes a certain amount of sense.
(but perhaps I'm biased in that I released a novel about incels about half a decade after they peaked in cultural relevance)
I enjoyed it too! The timing lag thing is forgivable and makes sense yeah, it helps if the book isn't highly topical or pegged to some news cycle or trend.
As far as other similar novels, I'm not sure there's been many that are openly satirical but I feel like recently there have been a lot in that vein—as I mentioned Love Affairs of Nathaniel P, a bunch of more recent light-hearted ones about DEI hijinx, "Perfection" making fun of Berlin ex-pats, there's another recent star who I can't think of her name right now.
Nathaniel P was a great novel and I can see the comparison, although Sleepers feels more like a coda to the era and is, in my view, sufficiently distinct.
Will look up Perfection - seems like an interesting find.
Regardless - tremendous review, lots of analytical gems here!
I kind of want to read this now. Sounds uncomfortable.
It is
This scene and its writing is, and has been at least since before Occupy, boring.