Jan 31, 2014 jenny offills heroine, referred to as simply the wife, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked dept. Jun 28, 2016 dept of speculation jenny offill with cool precision, in language that shimmers with rage and wit and fierce longing, jenny offill has crafted an exquisitely suspenseful love story that has the velocity of a train hurtling through the night at top speed. Jenny offill s heroine, referred to in these pages as simply the wife, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked dept. In the final accounting a novel is only a series of stated facts that arent true. This short novel is written in a spare prose that often reads like notebook jottings, abstract poetry or clippings from a textbook. Offill has created a masterpiece that is philosophical, funny and moving irish times offill has pinned down the bewildering wonder of new motherhood in sentences that are tense and. Through fragments of memories we get to know the narrator in her youth. Offill depicts those early months as a parent with great insight and honesty. This is the sort of pain in which jenny offills slender, quietly smashing novel dept. While this is partly due to a weakness on my part for circus stories, it is mostly due to erika swylers striking writing style and intricately woven narrative. As the years rush by, fears creep in and doubts accumulate until finally their life as they know it cracks apart and they find themselves forced to reassess what they have lost, what is left, and what they want now. If it laments the work not done, the books not written, the aspirations unfulfilled, it also represents work well done, a book. She is also the author of the novel last things, and four books for. Jenny offills brilliant, risktaking novel portrays the conflict between routine and obligation pitched against all the other things wed rather.
She thinks about some of the people that shes met, and how she used to focus on her work. A stunning novel that captures the quiet anguish of the. Nov 05, 2014 jenny offills newly released novel, dept. This 192 page text can be read in an afternoon, which is a great idea as the reader. From deep within the interiors of a fictional marriage, offill has crafted an account of matrimony and motherhood that breaks free of the alltoolimiting traditional stories of wives and mothers. It is also a beguiling rumination on the mysteries of intimacy, trust, faith, knowledge, and the condition of. This book was selected as one of the new york times book. It could have been just like any other book dealing with these themes, but the format offill. May 12, 2015 dept of speculation is also a fascinating look at parenthood, especially the changes that arise with the arrival of the first child.
Mar 06, 2014 offill has a gift for saying something extraordinary in a handful of words and tells it with mesmerising skill. Jenny offills heroine, referred to in these pages as simply the wife, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked dept. Mar 01, 2015 j enny offills slender second novel, dept. Emily tobey in february 2015, while promoting her second novel, dept. Because she had no attachments, dont be misled by the slim sizethis novel packs an emotional wallop. Apr 11, 2014 dept of speculation, by jenny offill, granta, rrp. Jan 28, 2014 jenny offills heroine, referred to in these pages as simply the wife, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked dept. She teaches in the writing programs at queens university, brooklyn college, and columbia university. As they confront an array of common catastrophes, the wife analyzes her predicament, invoking everything from keats and kafka to the lessons of doomed russian cosmonauts. Through short vignettes, offill builds a narrative about an unnamed husband and wife. Jenny offills second novel, dept of speculation, arrives 15 years after her debut, last things 1999. Nicolas latimer a book this sad shouldnt be so much fun to read.
In the beginning she was a writer and a fact checker, first working for a scientific magazine. The book of speculation is one of the best books ive had the privilege to read. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. From the point of view of an unnamed american woman, it gives us the hurrahs and boos of daily. Dept of speculation, by jenny offill financial times. She muses on the consuming, capacious experience of maternal love, and the near. Jenny offill s dept of speculation is small but perfectly formed books april 25, 2015 ever since i read the opening paragraph of jenny offill s dept.
Bookbrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction books that not only engage. Jenny offill born 1968 is an american novelist and editor. The new yorker, the boston globe, minneapolis star tribune, electric literature. The bestselling novelist on the new york rich, medication and her dirty secret. Jun 23, 2015 the celebrated author of between the world and me 2015 and we were eight years in power 2017 merges magic, adventure, and antebellum intrigue in his first novel in precivil war virginia, people who are white, whatever their degree of refinement, are considered the quality while those who are black, whatever their degree of dignity, are regarded as the tasked. Books for children nonfiction news events half a library contact.
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