I became a fan of Jonathan Lethem after I read his powerful and disturbing short story, “The Happy Man”, in the February 1991 issue of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. From then on, I’ve kept an eye out for his work. He’s never done anything quite so good as “The Happy Man”, IMHO, but he’s an excellent writer, well worth reading.

Girl in Landscape is an absorbing novel; every time I picked it up, I got sucked right in. With uncomplicated prose, Lethem evokes strong, disturbing moods – alienation chief among them. He easily delves into the mind of his protagonist and puts everything there on view, in a very interesting way.

My only disappointment with this novel, alas, is the end. This is not to say that the ending was bad; it’s just that I was hoping for something really really good, and this was just ok. Still, this is well worth the read – a fascinating work.

I compare this novel favorably to Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend, a good novel whose ending also disappointed me just a bit. Similar characters, similar moods, feelings of disconnection and alienation in a bizarre environment, etc.