The New Republic
A Novel

A strange book. It was written (as Shriver tells us in a very confident if not arrogant afterword) well before 9-11 but attracted no interest then due Shriver says to a lack of interest in terrorism. After 9-11 the book's satirical nature (Shriver uses the words "funny" and "playful" but the book is......more

My review of this book could be easily summarised by the beginning author's note, revealing this novel was written two decades ago but remained unpublished until this point. Of course this is due to the theme being 'poisonous' at the time, and the 2012 audience, becoming more recpetive. Nothing to d......more

Only Shriver dares to make fun of terrorism. Originally written in 1998, but unable to find a publisher, Shriver finally got her novel out in 2012 (after the success of We Need to Talk About Kevin). A prescient satire about terrorism and the unholy relation between terrorism and journalists, hilariou......more

In progress and generally enjoying despite being offended during an insomnia bout by a former prep school superstar saying "So I tossed it. I didn't apply to Yale or Harvard, but Haverford." --- Updated: Like many, I came to "meet" Shriver in We Need to Talk About Kevin. Enjoyed is an odd word for su......more

This was one of the more frustrating novels I've read in a long time. I love Shriver's work generally, but this one...just...dragged. For a long time it was one of those dreaded books that sucks the joy out of reading for awhile, simply because you don't look forward to going back to it. Anyway. The......more