Yesterday was the pub date for Shriver’s new novel, Big Brother. I went straight to the store and bought it. What a pleasure to be back in the presence of her insightful writing. A dozen pages in, she conveys so many ideas to which I find myself nodding my head in recognition and agreement, and she’s sent me reaching for the dictionary with words like peristalsis and eidetic.
Whereas some novelists tend to write the same book over and over again, Shriver covers new territory with each of her novels, allowing the reader to explore and discover worlds they may not have experienced before — sports, academia, journalism, music, glass-blowing, school violence, snooker, cancer, NGOs — all the while delving deep into her characters and themes. I highly recommend her.