LARB Digital Edition: The Year in Fiction EPUB

The reviews selected for this months Digital Edition, Foreign Lands, Invisible Cities, are a sampler of the places we readers of fiction visited this year. From the flood-prone hills of Haiti to the common courtyards of Queens, New York, fiction reminds us that everywhere we go we find humans who love and lust and scheme and hope. Some of the reviews mix personal history with criticism: Lisa Locascio describes her own fascination with Mormonism in terms of Ryan McIlvain's Elders, while Courtney Cook lets her love for Jane Gardam shine in her aptly-titled essay, Go Read Jane Gardam. For a dash of digital-age, we include Susanna Luthis sharp take on The Circle, Dave Eggerss dystopian novel that tackles big data collection, surveillance, and transparency.

It isnt the stories alone that transport us: imagery and rhythm, form and tone all work together to take us elsewhere. This is evident in Edwidge Danticats Claire of the Sea Light, reviewed by Rita Williams. And discussed in both Nathan Deuels review of Lucy Corins One Hundred and One Apocalypses and Katie Ryders essay on Renata Adler, whose 1976 Speedboat was republished this year by NYRoB.

Some travel to see the great landmarks, others to meet and mingle with the natives. Michael LaPointes gorgeous review of Javier Mariass The Infatuations takes us deep into the sorrows and desires of Mariass characters. And we round out the issue with Greg Cwiks Donna Tartt's New Anti-Epic, a review of both the writer and her latest novel, The Goldfinch. No doubt well remember Tartts warm and seedy characters long after the twists and turns of the plot are forgottenand then, as with all dear and distant friends, consider visiting them again.