Books like Something Happened

I read The Day of the Jackal when I was very young, then I saw the original film, and later I read the book again.

It fascinates me because of the precision with which it is written and because of two ideas that have been essential to my own career as a writer: how a terrorist group, by commissioning the assassination of De Gaulle, could have changed history with a single bullet had the attempt succeeded, and how politics becomes intertwined with violence and terrorism, showing that they are ultimately inseparable and that one cannot exist without the other.

In 2025, does anyone actually read The Sound and the Fury anymore?

Consider that it’s soooo very complex and difficult: four narrators, three of them unreliable often enough to be considered suspect; a non-linear narrative structure awash in stream of consciousness and the interior monologue, the narrative devices Faulkner developed along with Joyce; multiple perspectives on the same event that dash any hopes for “objective truth;” an appendix the author felt compelled to tack on after the novel was already in print to make sure his readers could actually understand what they were reading.

It requires intense focus and concentration from beginning to end, work that we are loathe to invest our time in in this jacked-up, high-speed modern age that already demands more of it than we are able to give. I read it while working on my Master's Degree under the guidance of a Faulkner scholar, and it… show more.

I once heard a friend of mine describe Last Exit to Brooklyn as “a significant minor novel.” He was wrong. It’s a good deal more than that.

Set in the same Brooklyn in which one will find Herschel Cain, the main character in my own novel, before he becomes professional wrestler Haystacks Kane, yet light years away, Last Exit is a searing portrayal of life in the raw amongst the American underclass, profoundly disturbing and terribly, terribly sad. It shook me to my core when I read it not long after it was published in the mid-1960s, and has remained with me ever since.

In countless ways, Selby’s novel thumbs its nose at traditional novel structure and the customary rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation in order to present virtually every moment of its bleak and upsetting narrative with a ferocious immediacy rarely found anywhere else.

In truth, it does… show more.

You rarely hear any mention these days of John Hawkes or his masterful 1971 novel, The Blood Oranges, his sumptuously written exploration of one man’s pursuit of freedom—in particular, sexual freedom—and the costs and consequences of that pursuit for himself, his wife, and the couple they meet, bond with, seduce in more ways than one, and help to destroy. 

Which is too bad. Because it’s truly exceptional.

The story unfolds in an unnamed tropical setting that is rich with atmosphere and heat, literal and otherwise. Entering its world was like throwing open the doors to a dream, a dream heavy with languorous passion and sexual tension. It was poetry in sensual slow motion, poetry in the guise of fiction, erotically charged but never ever pornographic (one reviewer called its underlying subject “sexistentialism”). 

Hawkes gifts all this to us in voluptuous prose that suffuses the senses; it dazzles and soars.… show more.

I’m an absolute sucker for a ‘what really happened that night’ tale and this is one of my all time favourites due to the unreliable narration and the sense of slowly creeping dread.

The core of this book is the messy tangle of friendship, obsession, and unspoken longing, which I can never get enough of. Throughout my first read of the story, I re-evaluated what I thought I knew, and went back to the start over and over. I had to know who was lying…

This book tells the story of Nandan, a high school junior just looking to have a perfect year.

His plans get thrown out the window when he and his friend Dave hook up at a party. Nandan has never been interested in guys before, but he’s willing to give this a try. The only problem is that’s easier said than done. Nandan has a lot to work through and process, and there are some parts of himself he’s not willing to acknowledge yet.

Unfortunately, Dave often gets caught in the crosshairs, and it can be uncomfortable to watch Nandan take it out on him. But there’s also something reassuring about a love interest/friend who’s patient and willing to wait for you to figure yourself out. Sometimes, we’re not the best version of ourselves, and we need people to stick by us.

While the romance is part of the story, it’s… show more.

This novel tells the story of Maise, a devoted wife and mother of four children.

It takes place over the course of a single day in October that begins with Maise nursing her infant and leads to a family outing to an orchard the following afternoon. It beautifully captures the daily emotions that a mother feels, ranging from anxiety to grief to deep love, and explores the feelings around the unpaid labor of motherhood and the financial anxiety that being a parent brings to us all. 

For years everyone thought the only two options for writing were to pants or plot, i.e., wing it or outline. Turns out there is another method and Lisa Cron lays that out in her book. 

I found this to be a truly valuable resource based on science and creative process. Cron’s book takes you from idea to actual writing using an innovative and original take on the conventional writing process.

A book with astonishing imagery and surrealism!

It lurks in the hazy landscape between magical realism and weird fantasy, which is an unusual thing per my reading experience for a coming-of-age story of a girl named Aisha from Mombasa. Her voyage to rescue her father from across an ocean of godlike sharks was a strange and unsettling experience to read.

Certainly one of the most unique (even if, in some fleeting moments, it reminded me of Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, which I found strictly okay).

I was deeply moved by this poetic in-verse novel that compassionately addresses harsh realities like coping with mounting stress and being a Black teen in America.

I felt a strong connection to the characters, who were well-developed and authentic, particularly the protagonist grappling with agoraphobia. The conversations about mental health were a nuanced and vulnerable exploration of expectations imposed on Black people dealing with mental health challenges.