ZOO TIME (Howard Jacobson) Rating: NNNN
Howard Jacobson’s follow-up to his Booker Prize-winning The Finkler Question is a pitch-black, razor-sharp critique of the publishing industry that will earn lots of chuckles from book nerds.
Middle-aged UK author Guy Ableman is stuck in literary limbo. His readership has dwindled, bookstores are going bankrupt and his despairing publisher just committed suicide. What’s more, Guy’s begun to fantasize about sleeping with his wife’s mother, possibly as inspiration for his next novel.
As Guy deals with a new publisher who wants literature reduced to 10-minute smartphone reads, Jacobson flashes back and ahead to pretentious literary festivals, angry reading groups and politically correct symposia.
The book could use a bit of a trim, especially in the first third, where some of Guy’s rants feel repetitive. And the plot and characterizations are intentionally, gloriously broad.
But the novel succeeds because of its chatty, lively tone. Jacobson obviously still loves the world he skewers.
