Book cover of Sensation Machines

Book description

A razor-sharp, darkly funny, and deeply human rendering of a Post-Trump America in economic free fall
 
Michael and Wendy Mixner are a Brooklyn-based couple whose marriage is failing in the wake of a personal tragedy. Michael, a Wall Street trader, is meanwhile keeping a secret: he lost the couple’s life…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Sensation Machines as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Just to get this out of the way: Adam is one of my closest friends. We both started our second novels New Year’s week of 2014 on a trip we took for the explicit purpose of starting new novels. I spent the next ten years trying to write my book, but Adam finished Sensation Machines in a more reasonable time frame. It was published in the summer of 2020, a basically impossible time to promote a book because we were all in lockdown. (Yes, I know, it wasn’t the worst thing that happened that summer, but still.)

It is a…

From Justin's list on second novels by authors I love.

Gripping. Frantic. Dark. Uncomfortable. And many more adjectives. Sensation Machines is an explosive, uncompromising satirical novel disguised as a crime thriller. It offers the best of both worlds: a sustained beat, a visual journey, and the questioning of our very own significance in a post-Trump America, one that closely resembles ours. 

Adam Wilson’s 2020 novel is a prime example of art being used to fulfill a perceived social responsibility. It follows the journey of a Brooklyn-based couple fighting to salvage their marriage. Connected by a string of murders, market crashes, and shady employment opportunities, they begin plunging into the gargantuan…

From Andre's list on highly political satirical.

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These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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