Metafiction is the ultimate analog binge reading experience, and we like literary primers in our reading diet, and lots of them. Like inappropriately obsessed bookworms, we’ll cram all the stories we can get into a single volume. And the nesting stories about writers and writing, the horrors of the creative process, and the mental toll of creating crap for a living (or stealing) are so full of satisfying plot twists and questionable character behavior that we keep coming back to the proverbial good time and time again. In our latest novel, The Rule of Three, we were delighted to design our own contribution to this category. In our case, the story features an extremely popular book club selection that may or may not be directly related to a double murder. There are so many books we love that fall into this category, but to quickly get back to our TBR piles, we’ve picked a handful of our favorites. This list could be much, much longer. More Than You’ll Ever Know In her dazzlingly lyrical debut novel, Katie Gutierrez Gutierrez deftly explores the crushing nature of truth while asking a fundamental question: Who gets to tell—and thereby shape—these narratives unfolding before the public eye? Cassie Bowman, a young true crime enthusiast and aspiring writer, stumbles upon the story of Lore Rivera, an international banker who decades earlier managed to live a double life and juggle two families, until the fateful, fateful day when one man tragically confronted the other. At first, Cassie sees the dirty story as a great opportunity to make a name for herself in the literary world, and manages to gain the trust of the media-wary Lora. But as the two women grow closer and Cassie begins to sniff out details that contradict the mainstream coverage of the scandal, she is faced with a moral dilemma: sacrifice her integrity for the exposure she craves, or do right by the woman. who took Cass ie. into her confidence? The article continues after the ad Hello Transcriber Hannah Morrissey Morrissey’s poignant, atmospheric and beautifully illustrated debut follows Hazel Greenlee, a police transcriber and aspiring writer living in Black Harbour, a tough Wisconsin town. A natural writer, Hazel is devoted to evaluating word structure and reading punctuation in people’s facial expressions. As her work at the department—and her closeness to brooding detective Nikolay Kolet—embroils Hazel in a string of drug-related deaths, the young woman takes the mantra “write what you know” to heart and investigates a myriad of threats on the page. confronting her in Black Harbor – an abusive man armed to the teeth; potentially dangerous and dishonest figures on both sides of the law; and the seemingly insidious allure of the city itself—in hopes of writing a story that can establish her as an author and take her far away from the trappings of her current life. Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews Florence Darrow is a lowly publishing clerk who dreams of literary success. Desperate to abandon her ordinary Florida upbringing and the lack of sophistication it equates with, the young woman moves to New York to pursue her dreams. But Florence can’t help but feel like an outsider and harbors frustration at being stuck in a job she considers menial. So when the opportunity to work as an assistant to a hugely successful but anonymous author presents itself, the driven young woman jumps at the chance. Florence feels a kinship with the acclaimed writer, and something about the plot of her wildly successful debut resonates with the ambition of a determined young upstart. What follows is a diabolically complex, acid-penned meditation on the ultimate cost of aspiration and opportunism, as Andrews delivers a gleefully sinister morality tale for the ages. Jason Mott’s Hell Book Inside With his genre-bending, National Book Award-winning novel, Jason Mott about an author detached from reality on a bestselling book tour, has created a brilliantly woven story that is as intoxicatingly disorienting as the protagonist at the center of it all. The story’s mysterious elements, unreliable characters and distinct surrealism create a very exciting background for this wonderful multi-layered story. This propulsive book, which begins with the high-speed pursuit of the nameless and naked protagonist by a cuckolded husband at three in the morning, does not let up much from there. Front-loaded with all the hallmarks of great suspenseful storytelling—and a third-wall-breaking, unreliable, unlikable, and often drunk protagonist—Hell of A Book unfolds into three intersecting stories of racial violence, self-identity, and love and grief. Throughout, the focus is on a deeply affecting exploration of imagination and mental illness, race and identity politics, and friendship and family. It is a book in the title of a book that lives up to its name many times over. Plot Jean Hanff Korelitz Korelitz’s deliciously sinister ‘teach the can’t’ style literary thriller delves into the life of struggling novelist and professor Jacob Finch Bonner. Unable to follow up the substantial success of his first novel, Bonner finds himself languishing in a mid-level master’s program surrounded by enthusiastic writing students who look to him to guide them to dream literary careers. All except the unbearably confident Evan Parker, who makes no secret of his creative brilliance. It doesn’t need Jacob or a program; he already has an idea for a guaranteed hit. Jacob writes Evan off as a hubris until he privately hears the setting of the novel. Fascinated by the idea and crippled by his own creative ineptitude, Bonner spins until he learns that Evan Parker has died without ever publishing his book. Jacob’s resulting decision to craf His own Parker-inspired plot twist unfolds into a delicious cat-and-mouse , as the book takes him toward a meteoric comeback. He then receives a cryptic message; “You are a thief”. The mystery of who knows the truth and how far they will go to punish him that follows culminates in a complex story of revenge that exposes all the self-doubt and insecurity that is part of the difficult creative career of impostor syndrome. Article continues after advertisement ***
Metafiction is the ultimate analog binge reading experience, and we like literary primers in our reading diet, and lots of them. Like inappropriately obsessed bookworms, we’ll cram all the stories we can get into a single volume. And the nesting stories about writers and writing, the horrors of the creative process, and the mental toll of creating crap for a living (or stealing) are so full of satisfying plot twists and questionable character behavior that we keep coming back to the proverbial good time and time again.
In our latest novel, The Rule of Three, we were delighted to design our own contribution to this category. In our case, the story features an extremely popular book club selection that may or may not be directly related to the double murder.
There are so many books we love that fall into this category, but to quickly get back to our TBR piles, we’ve picked a handful of our favorites. This list could be much, much longer.
More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez
In her dazzlingly lyrical first novel, Gutierrez deftly explores the crushing nature of truth while asking a fundamental question: Who gets to tell—and thereby shape—these narratives unfolding before the public eye? Cassie Bowman, a young true crime enthusiast and aspiring writer, stumbles upon the story of Lore Rivera, an international banker who decades earlier managed to live a double life and juggle two families, until the fateful, fateful day when one man tragically confronted the other. At first, Cassie sees the dirty story as a great opportunity to make a name for herself in the literary world, and manages to gain the trust of the media-wary Lora. But as the two women grow closer and Cassie begins to sniff out details that contradict the mainstream coverage of the scandal, she is faced with a moral dilemma: sacrifice her integrity for the exposure she craves, or do right by the woman. who took cassie into confidence?
The article continues after the ad
Hi Transcriber Hannah Morrissey
Morrissey’s gritty, atmospheric and beautifully rendered debut follows Hazel Greenlee, a police transcriber and aspiring writer living in Black Harbour, a tough Wisconsin town. A natural writer, Hazel is devoted to evaluating word structure and reading punctuation in people’s facial expressions. As her work at the department—and her closeness to brooding detective Nikolay Kolet—embroils Hazel in a string of drug-related deaths, the young woman takes the mantra “write what you know” to heart and investigates a myriad of threats on the page. confronting her in Black Harbor – an abusive man armed to the teeth; potentially dangerous and dishonest figures on both sides of the law; and the seemingly insidious allure of the city itself—in hopes of writing a story that can establish her as an author and take her far away from the trappings of her current life.
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews
Florence Darrow is a lowly publishing clerk who dreams of literary success. Desperate to abandon her ordinary Florida upbringing and the lack of sophistication it equates with, the young woman moves to New York to pursue her dreams. But Florence can’t help but feel like an outsider and harbors frustration at being stuck in a job she considers menial. So when the opportunity to work as an assistant to a hugely successful but anonymous author presents itself, the driven young woman jumps at the chance. Florence feels a kinship with the acclaimed writer, and something about the plot of her wildly successful debut resonates with the ambition of a determined young upstart. What follows is a diabolically complex, acid-penned meditation on the ultimate cost of aspiration and opportunism, as Andrews delivers a gleefully sinister morality tale for the ages.
In his genre-bending, National Book Award-winning novel about a dissociated writer on a bestselling book tour, Jason Mott has crafted a brilliantly woven tale as intoxicatingly disorienting as the protagonist at the center of it all. mysterious story elements, unreliable characters and distinct surrealism create a very exciting background for this wonderful multi-layered story. This propulsive book, which begins with the high-speed pursuit of the nameless and naked protagonist by a cuckolded husband at three in the morning, does not let up much from there. Front-loaded with all the hallmarks of great suspenseful storytelling—and a third-wall-breaking, unreliable, unlikable, and often drunk protagonist—Hell of A Book unfolds into three intersecting stories of racial violence, self-identity, and love and grief. Throughout, the focus is on a deeply affecting exploration of imagination and mental illness, race and identity politics, and friendship and family. It is a book in the title of a book that lives up to its name many times over.
With a deliciously sinister ‘teach the can’t’ approach, Korelitz’s literary thriller delves into the life of struggling novelist and professor Jacob Finch Bonner. Unable to follow up the substantial success of his first novel, Bonner finds himself languishing in a mid-level master’s program surrounded by enthusiastic writing students who look to him to guide them to dream literary careers. All except the unbearably confident Evan Parker, who makes no secret of his creative brilliance. It doesn’t need Jacob or a program; he already has an idea for a guaranteed hit. Jacob writes Evan off as a hubris until he privately hears the setting of the novel. Fascinated by the idea and crippled by his own creative ineptitude, Bonner spins until he learns that Evan Parker has died without ever publishing his book. Jacob’s resulting decision to build his novel around Parker’s inspired plot develops into a delicious cat-and-mouse affair as the book propels him toward a meteoric comeback. He then receives a cryptic message; “You are a thief”. The mystery of who knows the truth and how far they will go to punish him that follows culminates in a complex story of revenge that exposes all the self-doubt and insecurity that is part of the difficult creative career of impostor syndrome.
The article continues after the ad
