A Literary Interlude

Um, no.

Beloved isn't good. Underworld is good, but not as good as White Noise, although it tries mightily to be better. Updike proves an unreadable physical manifestation of masturbatory excess. Phillip Roth doesn't deserve so many mentions. Michael Chabon isn't mentioned, even though Kavalier and Clay succeeds everywhere that Underworld was slack. Anyhoo...

For my part, the best American novel of the last 25 years, with an emphasis on the American, is Joan Didion's The Last Thing He Wanted.