A Year in Reading: Pinky’s Paperhaus

December 7, 2006 | 1 book mentioned 3

Carolyn aka Pinky has, of late, been toiling away at — while also giving us the play by play on — the MFA program she started this fall, but she found a moment amidst the semester-end crush to send us a note about the best book she read this year:

coverI’ll leave it to others to sing the obvious praises of Richard Powers, Thomas Pynchon and Mark Danielewski. For me, the best surprise was the excellent, gripping The Open Curtain by Brian Evensen.

I was entirely blown away by The Open Curtain. I didn’t know what to expect from a horror book set in the Mormon community in Utah; what I got was a brilliant narrative that’s impossible to put down. As the narrator’s reliability begins to become a question, the story deepens into issues of identity and desire. It’s an incredible, marvelous writerly feat. Plus it’s the first book since Nancy Drew to get me bouncing on my bed, literally shouting at the girl in peril.

Thanks Carolyn!

writes about books and publishing for the Los Angeles Times.