Thursday, August 6, 2015

"The literary equivalent of Linklater’s Boyhood." The New York Stories is most appreciatedly Alternating Current review.

Quite appreciatedly really. Excerpt? Word.

"The timeline of the collection follows the aging of the children from volume to volume. These kids grow up with dysfunctional parents and, in the second volume, become dysfunctional themselves. By the third volume, just before all the pieces of their lives fall, a flood comes into Two Rivers that threatens to destroy anything they have left. During the early parts of the second volume, this reader started to feel like an experienced Two Rivers observer. I “got” these people. I felt Tanzer gain momentum with this world. By the third volume, when the rains come down, all bets are off. The stakes in their personal lives are as extreme as the weather. He doesn’t just put his characters up a tree and throw a few rocks at them—these trees are underwater. These trees lose their roots. These rocks are mountain-sized. These pages are intense."

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