Summer, with its long days, casual dress codes and relaxed pace, is drawing to a close. As life becomes less sunny and more frenetic, relax a bit with these three novels. Each of them features a protagonist dealing with an upheaval of his or her own.

"The End As I Know It"

by Kevin Shay

Anchor Books, $15.95

It is 1998, and Randall Knight, a children's puppeteer, is in the middle of a cross-country journey to warn his family and closest friends of their impending doom. In the year 2000, he believes, the Y2K bug will wreak havoc on the lives of the unprepared. His grandmother is the only one to take him seriously so far, but that doesn't dissuade Randall.

"The End As I Know It" follows Randall's adventures, which include buying a souped-up laptop computer from a paranoid survivalist, humiliating his sister and brother-in-law in front of a roomful of party guests and sharing Thanksgiving dinner with the Y2K-ready, if rather off-kilter, Bursey family.

In his debut novel, Kevin Shay displays an eye for the absurdity of modern life, and a wonderful sense of humor. The novel doesn't always work as a whole. For instance, Randall seems too easygoing to be a serious millennialist, and Shay's use of the Beatles' song "Rocky Raccoon" as the novel's framework is a little precious. But like its protagonist, "The End As I Know It" is endearing in spite of, or perhaps even because of, its flaws.

"The Foreigner"

by Francie Lin

Picador, $14

When Emerson Chang's mother collapses after their customary Friday night dinner, he is bewildered by her decision to leave the family business to his younger brother. "Little P" left the family in California over a decade ago to work at his uncle's karaoke bar in Taiwan. When Emerson arrives in Taipei to deliver the inheritance, he finds Little P involved in the criminal underworld. And after losing a game of mah-jongg to Little P's unsavory associates, Emerson finds himself in danger.

"The Foreigner" is an uneasy hybrid of thriller and literary novel. Its action scenes read as though they were intended for the screen rather than the page, and a subplot involving Taiwanese politics adds nothing to the story. Emerson's attempts to discern his brother's true line of business are almost laughably obtuse and seem meant merely to prolong the novel.

On the other hand, hidden between the lines is a delightfully creepy, almost Oedipal family romance. If "The Foreigner" were more focused on that side of the story, rather than the more action-oriented aspects, it would be much more successful.

"A Little Stranger"

by Kate Pullinger

Serpent's Tail, $14.95

Fran has been feeling adrift ever since Louis, her young son, was born. She misses her job and feels trapped in her small London apartment. Nick, Fran's husband, has adored her since they met as teenagers, but he refuses to acknowledge Fran's feelings of desperation.

One day, Fran decides she can't take it anymore and does the only thing that makes sense at the time: she runs away to Las Vegas. There she meets Leslie, a successful businesswoman and high-stakes gambler with troubles of her own. As the two women strike up a friendship, Nick, still in London, struggles to take care of Louis and make sense of Fran's actions.

Kate Pullinger tells this story in an experimental style, shifting among many characters' perspectives and between first- and third-person narration. This method throws the chaos of Fran's and Nick's lives into three dimensions, raising "A Little Stranger" head and shoulders above other literary domestic dramas.

Rebecca Oppenheimer, a recent Towson University graduate and National Book Critics' Circle member, continues to dive into the latest books from her home in Stevenson.

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user comments (1)

user vjphann says...

I have followed this column for some time now. Once again, excellent recommendations!

Posted 10:50 AM, 09.12.08

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