Joseph O’Neill‘s novel Netherland melds a native Dutchman’s immersion in the Staten Island school of cricket with his harrowing account of the immediate aftermath of 9/11, in which he and his wife, splintering under the stress, “were trying to understand, that is, if we were in a preapocalyptic situation, like the European Jews in the thirties or the last citizens of Pompeii, or whether our situation was near-apocalyptic, like that of the Cold War inhabitants of New York, London, Washington, and, for that matter, Moscow.”
Netherland goes to some pretty dark places, but it’s also very finely written and one of the best-reviewed books of the year. O’Neill will be at BookPeople tomorrow (Thursday) at 7pm to share some of that finely written stuff with you.
This article appears in June 20 • 2008.
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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...
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