fortress of solitude

Jonathan Lethem's forthcoming masterpiece (no, really) is being pushed by Random House as their big, important book of the high stakes fall season. With good reason.

It somehow straddles youth and old age, nostalgia and disgust, punk and soul, comics and super powers, friendships and families, crippling minutae and massive strokes. All in a tight package just over 600 pages. It's about things, actual things, and radiates a sense of importance that, unsurprisingly (given Lethem's flawless track record) succeeds and then some, without the metaintellectualism of an Infinite Jest or the screech to a halt overload of an Underworld.

And now it has a website.

Go here to read praise from no less than Richard Russo and Paula Fox. There's a lengthy excerpt and a batch of writings on depressed superheroes, Marvel-love amongst authors and a short story previously only available as liner notes, an artform Lethem now lays sole claim to prime, soaring love for.

Posted by xtop at July 6, 2003 04:35 PM