Speed Reader

 

In a follow-up to his well-received debut novel, The Impressionists, Kunzru wrangles with the joys and perils of hyper-consumerism in modern California. Kunzru's protagonist is a gullible East Indian immigrant who looses a computer virus into the network of a former employer in an elaborate attempt to get his old job back.

 

In this deeply weird black fantasy, Hand braids three story lines into a peculiar tale about a supernatural feminine force that recurs throughout history, driving artists and dreamers mad with its (her?) blistering erotic force. Advance word is that Mortal Love should appeal to readers who normally wouldn't touch a fantasy novel with a 10-foot wand.

 

By most accounts, this debut novel manages to tread the difficult line between good storytelling and environmental advocacy without stumbling. The tale of a white boy raised in the Alaskan wilderness struggling to cope with mainstream urban American culture shows a lot of promise.