When a writer you enjoy dies, you're left to go through the works again (and maybe again), hoping that your earlier enthusiasm is not diluted by the subsequent readings. That is the case with Mordecai Richler, and I have been happy to find that his novels and essays are just as rewarding the second (or third) time around. But what can also happen is that a living writer can bring some of the same type of enjoyment, which is what Zoe Heller does in this novel.
The Believers is a family drama, with comedic and cruel accents, set in New York in 2002. The family patriarch, a prominent left-wing lawyer, has a stroke, and his family goes on (or stumbles) without him. The caustic wife, Audrey, is the source of much of the bitterly funny dialogue, which has echoes of Richler and even Waugh. Heller's prose has perfect rhythm, and her metaphors and similes strike home. I can't recall a single bad sentence in the whole book.
No comments:
Post a Comment