NEXT, the new novel from James Hynes
Descending on a plane into Austin, Texas, Kevin Quinn is worried about his stifling job, the younger girlfriend he's lucky to have but can't commit to, his rapidly encroaching late middle age, and the terrorist attacks in Europe that rocked the world just days ago. But as the tarmac looms closer, he's really thinking about only one thing: the beautiful young woman in the seat next to him.
Though he should be focused on the job interview that's brought him to Texas in the first place, Kevin can't quite let his luminous seatmate go. He impulsively takes off after her through the city streets in a quixotic and nostalgic journey that evokes scenes from his past: his dodgy love life, recollected in hilariously mortifying detail; the tragicomedy of his youthful idealism; the dysfunctional family he has only ever wanted to escape.
It's a day both common in its anxieties and singular for the fresh possibilities the girl and the interview represent. Then, on the fifty-second floor of an Austin office tower, as he takes the first steps toward what he hopes might be a late-in-life second chance, Kevin is suddenly confronted with a shocking reality about himself, and the age we live in. Perhaps, in the nick of time, he will understand just what happens next.
An electrifying, mordantly funny tale of regret, redemption, and unexpected grace, Next confirms James Hynes's status as one of America's most original and startling writers.
Buy the book from IndieBound, Powell's Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Borders.
Read an excerpt.
Read the reviews.
Read and listen to interviews with James Hynes.
Early praise for Next:
"I already knew that James Hynes was the master of satirical, high-octane fiction but I did not expect him to be the genius of detail, too. Next—in which Kevin goes to Texas for a job interview and gets sidetracked by his lifelong quest for love—is that rarity, a lapidary novel of small compass and brief time frame which delivers a punch of global relevance. It is touching, shocking, intelligent, and—at least where matters of the heart are concerned—profoundly and subversively candid."
—Jim Crace
"James Hynes is a master of hyperrealism and a genius of a stylist. Next starts with a slow burn and revs up steadily, hypnotically, with increasing depth and heft; Hynes writes like Joyce on Quaaludes, in spiky, gorgeous language, with an eye for detail that is occasionally shocking in its apt particularity. He has an effortless recall of pop culture that is unparalleled in contemporary fiction. Next occurs on one Bloomsday-like imaginary day and runs backward and forward in time to a heart-stopping finale that is one of the best endings of any novel I have ever read."
—Kate Christensen
"One of the most surprising, delightful, compulsively readable, and ultimately profound novels I've read in some time. I didn't know whether to cry or laugh or cheer when I finished it, so I just went ahead and did all three, then started over at the beginning."
—Laura Lippman
"James Hynes has taken his gift for dark comedy into deeper waters than ever before. This intricately constructed story is more than just a stupendous tour de force. It takes a lot of nerve to write such a book, and Hynes has made good on his audacity."
—Madison Smartt Bell
Though he should be focused on the job interview that's brought him to Texas in the first place, Kevin can't quite let his luminous seatmate go. He impulsively takes off after her through the city streets in a quixotic and nostalgic journey that evokes scenes from his past: his dodgy love life, recollected in hilariously mortifying detail; the tragicomedy of his youthful idealism; the dysfunctional family he has only ever wanted to escape.
It's a day both common in its anxieties and singular for the fresh possibilities the girl and the interview represent. Then, on the fifty-second floor of an Austin office tower, as he takes the first steps toward what he hopes might be a late-in-life second chance, Kevin is suddenly confronted with a shocking reality about himself, and the age we live in. Perhaps, in the nick of time, he will understand just what happens next.
An electrifying, mordantly funny tale of regret, redemption, and unexpected grace, Next confirms James Hynes's status as one of America's most original and startling writers.
Buy the book from IndieBound, Powell's Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Borders.
Read an excerpt.
Read the reviews.
Read and listen to interviews with James Hynes.
Early praise for Next:
"I already knew that James Hynes was the master of satirical, high-octane fiction but I did not expect him to be the genius of detail, too. Next—in which Kevin goes to Texas for a job interview and gets sidetracked by his lifelong quest for love—is that rarity, a lapidary novel of small compass and brief time frame which delivers a punch of global relevance. It is touching, shocking, intelligent, and—at least where matters of the heart are concerned—profoundly and subversively candid."
—Jim Crace
"James Hynes is a master of hyperrealism and a genius of a stylist. Next starts with a slow burn and revs up steadily, hypnotically, with increasing depth and heft; Hynes writes like Joyce on Quaaludes, in spiky, gorgeous language, with an eye for detail that is occasionally shocking in its apt particularity. He has an effortless recall of pop culture that is unparalleled in contemporary fiction. Next occurs on one Bloomsday-like imaginary day and runs backward and forward in time to a heart-stopping finale that is one of the best endings of any novel I have ever read."
—Kate Christensen
"One of the most surprising, delightful, compulsively readable, and ultimately profound novels I've read in some time. I didn't know whether to cry or laugh or cheer when I finished it, so I just went ahead and did all three, then started over at the beginning."
—Laura Lippman
"James Hynes has taken his gift for dark comedy into deeper waters than ever before. This intricately constructed story is more than just a stupendous tour de force. It takes a lot of nerve to write such a book, and Hynes has made good on his audacity."
—Madison Smartt Bell