Helen DeWitt wordt geprezen om haar debuutroman, maar haar oeuvre strekt zich uit voorbij één enkel werk. Met meedogenloze nieuwsgierigheid duikt ze in de complexiteit van de menselijke geest en taal. Haar stijl kenmerkt zich door een bedachtzame opbouw en diepgaand inzicht in de motivaties van personages. DeWitt onderzoekt vaak thema's als identiteit, herinnering en de zoektocht naar betekenis in een ambigue wereld.
De laatste samoerai is een intellectuele tour de force, vol verhalen, fabels, Japanse grammatica, Griekse poëzie, IJslandse legendes en wiskundige problemen. Maar bovenal wordt teder en liefdevol de innige band tussen een moeder en haar geniale, geestige en bijzondere zoon beschreven.
Maman was exigeante—there is no English word–and I had the benefit of her training. Others may not be so fortunate. If some other young girl, with two million dollars at stake, finds this of use I shall count myself justified.Raised in Marrakech by a French mother and English father, a 17-year-old girl has learned above all to avoid mauvais ton ("bad taste" loses something in the translation). One should not ask servants to wait on one during Ramadan: they must have paid leave while one spends the holy month abroad. One must play the piano; if staying at Claridge’s, one must regrettably install a Clavinova in the suite, so that the necessary hours of practice will not be inflicted on fellow guests. One should cultivate weavers of tweed in the Outer Hebrides but have the cloth made up in London; one should buy linen in Ireland but have it made up by a Thai seamstress in Paris (whose genius has been supported by purchase of suitable premises). All this and much more she has learned, governed by a parent of ferociously lofty standards. But at 17, during the annual Ramadan travels, she finds all assumptions overturned. Will she be able to fend for herself? Will the dictates of good taste suffice when she must deal, singlehanded, with the sharks of New York?
Failing salesman Joe has a dream - or rather an outrageous fantasy. Holed up in his trailer, Joe devises a jaw-dropping plan that will stamp out sexual harassment in the workplace and make his fortune. As he turns his life around, 'Lightning Rods' takes us to the very top of corporate America.
Noveller. A collection of short stories which focuses on misfits, artists, and intellectuals, and the perils and contradictions of artistic success in contemporary society