Jim Shepard has written an excellent appreciation of the late John Hawkes, who is probably (IMO) one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. Nobody wrote like he did. He wrote the most nightmarish fiction I can possibly think of, weird dreamlike wordscapes in which characters seemed to float from point to point, regardless of their own intentions. A good starting point would be Travesty, which is probably the most comprehensible of his novels; follow that up with The Lime Twig, which is generally considered his masterpiece. If you like those, read the rest. It’s all good.
–Jon
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