NP - Franzen

[Will Layman]

I very much enjoyed his most recent, FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, which is  
about growing up in NY, growing up with an artist father, race  
relations, comic books, graffitti art, and much more.  I think the  
second half of the book is less inspiring, but I still recommend it  
highly.  MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN is pretty terrific too.

It would be a stretch to call these books Pychonian, by the way.   
"Heir to" may be fair enough, but I think that has more to do with  
who Lethem enjoys rather than who he resembles.  He's more a Michael  
Chabon kind of writer, perhaps, though less self-satisfied and clever.

-- Will

On Oct 9, 2006, at 3:05 PM, David Morris wrote:

> Thanks for this.  I'd not heard of him, but I take it that he's
> "Already being hailed as an heir to Don DeLillo and Thomas Pynchon."
> (from the Bold Type website)
>
> http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0397/lethem/
>
> Which of his novels would you say is his best?
>
> David Morris
>
> On 10/9/06, Will Layman <willl at fieldschool.org> wrote:
>> Still, enjoyable.  But if you're looking for that sort of thing, I  
>> recommend with much great enthusiasm the books by Jonathan LETHEM.