Customer Reviews

M31

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4 star:		(1)
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Stephen Wright is one of the most original and inventive novelists working in the English language. His work is shocking, provocative, astonishingly rich and subtle, and peopled by characters so lifelike you can practically smell them. Wright's imagery borders on the poetic, while his satirical viewpoint is one of unparalleled ferocity and intensity. If you want fiction that changes the way you see the world around you, Stephen Wright is for you.
While M-31 (his second novel, published in 1989) is not quite as bold and polished as Going Native (his third and last to date, published in 1993), it is still the work of an apalling talent. Presently, I am tip-toeing through his debut, Meditations in Green, a booby-trapped novel set largely in the Vietnam war which may well be the best fictional representation of that conflict ever written. But like all his books, it defies genre and easy categorisation.
One day, perhaps, Wright will get the recognition he so richly deserves. Until then, he's the best-kept secret in contemporary literature.

i read this novel years ago, but the feeling of it still stays with me. i'd read a very favorable review of it in the New York Times Book Review. So, i bought the thing. After four pages, i was convinced that this guy was the worst writer in the history of the planet. On page five, i was convinced that he was one of the best. something just "kicked in for me." in place of fragmented sentences and randomly shifting points of view, there came a highly stylized narrative technique that seemed to have been invented for the sole purpose of telling this bizarre, weird, curiously powerful, and engrossing tale. And, ps. if you want another great book, totally different from M31...I have a recommendation, but it may just be a "guy" book. It's Money, by martin amis. not only is it extremely well-written, but it's THE FUNNIEST BOOK IN THE WORLD. happy reading - david

Richard Wright is a very talented writer. I would compare him to some of my other favorites like Denis Johnson and Chuck Palanhniuk. This book is probably not his best but due to his excellent writing style its worth a read. I won't give any plot summary other than to say this story follows a husband and wife team of ufologists and their inbreed family. The book loses its focus towards the end and some major plot holes are left unanswered. But if you like any of the afformentioned authors I'd check this book out.