Overreachers Book

Predictably (at least as far as I'm concerned), Zadie Smith's Martha, Martha was the best story in this issue; head and shoulders above most of the others and an entire body and a pair of stilts above some of them (for example, Sarah Waters'Helen and Julia which I singled out for derision in a previous update). Hari Kunzru's LILA.EXE is showing its age now and proving that writing convincingly and timelessly about modern culture is one of the hardest things to do. Philip Hensher's In Time of War has a convincing atmosphere that drew me in and, finally, Adam Thirlwell's The Cyrillic Alphabet was worthwhile. Seven out of 20 ain't bad.