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. Jan 31, 2014 jenny offills heroine, referred to as simply the wife, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked dept. Apr 11, 2014 dept of speculation, by jenny offill, granta, rrp. Jenny offill born 1968 is an american novelist and editor. Mar 06, 2014 offill has a gift for saying something extraordinary in a handful of words and tells it with mesmerising skill. 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. A stunning novel that captures the quiet anguish of the. It is also a beguiling rumination on the mysteries of intimacy, trust, faith, knowledge, and the condition of.
This is not counting her ghostwritten account of the us space program for an astronaut who almost but not quite made it into orbit. If it laments the work not done, the books not written, the aspirations unfulfilled, it also represents work well done, a book. Books for children nonfiction news events half a library contact. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. In the beginning she was a writer and a fact checker, first working for a scientific magazine. Through short vignettes, offill builds a narrative about an unnamed husband and wife. Dept of speculation, by jenny offill financial times. 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. Mar 14, 2014 offills dread of the mundane makes her good at spotting its encroaching presence, like the monster lurking in the shadows of the horror movie. Jenny offill s heroine, referred to in these pages as simply the wife, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked dept.
It has been a few weeks since my first reading and i am still not sure what to make of this novel. 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. The book of speculation is one of the best books ive had the privilege to read. Mar 01, 2015 j enny offills slender second novel, dept. From the point of view of an unnamed american woman, it gives us the hurrahs and boos of daily. Because she had no attachments, dont be misled by the slim sizethis novel packs an emotional wallop. 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. This short novel is written in a spare prose that often reads like notebook jottings, abstract poetry or clippings from a textbook. This is the sort of pain in which jenny offills slender, quietly smashing novel dept. Jan 23, 2014 jenny offill s sparse and experimental novel dept. 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. Nicolas latimer a book this sad shouldnt be so much fun to read.
She muses on the consuming, capacious experience of maternal love, and the near. Jenny offills brilliant, risktaking novel portrays the conflict between routine and obligation pitched against all the other things wed rather. Jenny offills heroine, referred to in these pages as simply the wife, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked dept. Jenny offills second novel, dept of speculation, arrives 15 years after her debut, last things 1999. Emily tobey in february 2015, while promoting her second novel, dept. Jenny offill has written a shattered novel that stabs and sparkles at the same time. Jenny offills second novel arrives fifteen years after last things, with several childrens books in between. The new yorker, the boston globe, minneapolis star tribune, electric literature. She teaches in the writing programs at queens university, brooklyn college, and columbia university. Offill depicts those early months as a parent with great insight and honesty.
This 192 page text can be read in an afternoon, which is a great idea as the reader. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read dept. Written with the dazzling lucidity of poetry, dept. Jan 28, 2014 jenny offills heroine, referred to in these pages as simply the wife, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked dept. Bookbrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction books that not only engage. She thinks about some of the people that shes met, and how she used to focus on her work. In the final accounting a novel is only a series of stated facts that arent true. 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. She is also the author of the novel last things, and four books for. This book was selected as one of the new york times book. 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. 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.
Offill tells nprs rachel martin that her experiences. If i tell you that its funny, and moving, and true. Nov 05, 2014 jenny offills newly released novel, dept. Through fragments of memories we get to know the narrator in her youth. The bestselling novelist on the new york rich, medication and her dirty secret.
1094 277 705 1171 1567 720 1558 1424 1271 678 1117 145 732 1051 683 1252 893 477 1062 1524 662 1016 211 1030 1345 297 237 199 322 471 663 509 1223 1346 465 611 49 1444 1288 576 1193 321 841