by Emma Cline
First published 2021
Harvey wakes up sweating in a borrowed Connecticut house, twenty-four hours before his sentencing. Despite everything, he remains confident. This is America, and men like him don't get convicted. People turned their backs on him, but new people replaced them. Those who owe him favors will still have to pay up. When he recognizes his neighbor as novelist Don DeLillo, Harvey sees opportunity. He imagines the headlines: White Noise, the unfilmable novel, finally adapted. The perfect alliance of ambition and prestige to fuel his comeback. But as the hours pass, disturbing signs emerge. Cracks appear in Harvey's morning confidence. Emma Cline narrates from the most uncomfortable perspective possible: inside the mind of a man whose last name needs no mention. She portrays him as fragile and needy, someone who overestimates his intelligence and displays ridiculous megalomania. Harvey remains completely detached from the reality of his conviction, which becomes increasingly visible to him throughout the day. His conscious mind denies guilt even as it seeps through his thoughts.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Connecticut
Period: 24 Hours
104 pages · Paperback · Anagrama
Content warnings: mental-illness