The Only Words That Are Worth Remembering

Rowan Van Zandt retrospectively narrates Rotter’s (The Unknown Knowns) dystopian satire of a future America ruled by rival corporations. Rowan relies on his violent, brainless twin brother, Faron, for protection from the dangers of their life amid the ruins. The American polity collapsed with the demise of the Gunts, a semi-mythical oligarchy. Now Bosom Industries and its ilk maintain just enough order to keep the citizenry employed and consuming. When Bosom’s agents discover perfectly preserved Gunt mechanisms intended to launch a rocket to Europa, Rowan is skeptical; everyone knows the Night Glass surrounds Earth, and other planets don’t exist. With no willing volunteers for a trip, Bosom coerces the bumbling Van Zandt clan, tightly bonded in love, rum, and homicide, into becoming space pioneers. Cast as a letter from Rowan to his daughter, this inventively epic recounting of the Van Zandts’ ineptitude is desperate, lyrical, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Not every insight is profound, but enough of them are to make this bizarre adventure eminently worth reading. Agent: Nicole Aragi, Aragi Inc. (Apr.)