Something New Under the Sun

Up and coming American writer Alexandra Kleeman creates a fascinating multi-layered novel set in a near future "Hotel Hell" Southern California. East Coast writer Patrick Hamlin travels to LA to try to keep a film adaptation of his book from spinning out of control. He encounters swarmy, corrupt producers, incompetent production staff, and a famous but unstable starlet, Cassidy Carter. Patrick also lands in a (literally) hostile physical environment, with scorching heat, never ending fires, and an extreme scarcity of water. Residents have to buy a substitute, called WAT-R, produced by a shadowy corporation which has far too much power. As you might imagine, greed and corruption are a byproduct of this environmental crisis. Patrick becomes a kind of chaperone for Cassidy, and they form an unlikely detective team trying to investigate the links between WAT-R and a growing type of dementia which affects younger people. This book combines a Hollywood satire, a mystery, and a scary commentary on a (quite possible) future environmental catastrophe. There are more aspects to the plot, including Patrick's wife and daughter joining a bizarre nature cult. Holding all of this together would be a challenge for any writer, but Kleeman somehow does this, although there are some absurdist elements, and an ending which may disappoint some readers. If there is an underlying theme, it is that the characters, and local residents in general, seem to adapt without much resistance to their city becoming more and more toxic. Given the numerous large wildfires and serious drought conditions already becoming the "norm" for much of the Western US, Kleeman's dystopian vision is alarmingly close to present reality. Overall, this book provided one of the most interesting reading experiences I have had in a long time.

Alexandra Kleeman has terrific powers of description, but she's not much of a story teller. "Something New" gets off to a wobbly start, with a shaggy story about a book author who accepts a menial job with the film company which is turning his book into a movie. You expect a sarcastic, satirical comedy like something out of Terry Southern. The Left Coast is awash in a water-substitute called WAT-R (clever). Nothing much happens for the first few hundred pages (of a 350-page book), until the realization that WAT-R is causing something like dementia in all who drink it. A good premise for sci-fi, fersure, but here it's the writing that's becoming demented. The behavior of Patrick, book author, and Cassidy, the puckish star of the film being made, becomes more and more erratic, as they caper around in the desert in an End-of-Days scenario. Well, what remains of the plot disappears up its own tail and the reader is left with a feeling of abandonment. Not resolution, not satisfaction. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Interesting story but doesn't live up to the hype. Disjointed

I loved this book, and hopefully the future it describes is just a fantasy. Excellent writing.

This novel is both alarming and witty, revealing the horror of a near future that is dreadful yet not totally hopeless. I like most is the invention of "something new" and also the subtle attention paid to the non-human world around us. The writing is sharp and beautiful.