Booklist Online picked one of my personal favorites from this season yesterday for this starred review. “The Gone-Away World” was first recommended to me at ALA by one of our sales reps, but I probably would’ve picked it up anyway because the cover is so bright it could confuse flora-seeking bees. Finally, Booklist has made the right comparison: Catch-22. Heller and Harkaway have very much in common. My favorite novels tend to be intensely ambitious (Infinite Jest, The Fountainhead) and funny/serious (The Corrections, Everything Is Illuminated), and Nick Haraway’s neon whirlwind of a debut fits into both of those molds. With its biting political satire, “off-centre” British wit, and boundless energy, this is sure to be a hit with the young & literary. Perhaps the geeky as well. Not that I’d know…
Below is an interview (the first of three parts) with the author, Mr. Harkaway.
[youtube apE407yBlq8]-David