Let me tell you where y'all were even more right. Our "Black Flies" has gotten the sum of two reviews, one, a starred PW, the other, the cover review of the NYTBR the week after "Netherland."

"Netherland" is indeed genius, the most wonderful novel I have read all year. I look forward to reading "Black Flies" as well (as I do everything Soft Skull publishes).

Netherland is different from other books; it's refreshing because it's understated. The reader has to give something to the book. It's different also because of the subject -- lots of books are about marital discord, but few include cricket and a lot of post-colonials looking for a place to belong. Chuck strikes me as a very New York kind of character, full of crazy ideas and schemes. I assume the title means something more than Hans' country of origin, the state of suspended animation that New Yorkers found themselves in during the years after 9/11.

I am nearly finished reading Netherland, and absolutely love it. To me it is understated and yet emotional in the most original way possible. I have enjoyed pausing to think about what a certain thought or sentence has provoked, and to me that is one measure of a successful piece of writing. I am also often awed by O'Neill's pure skill--he is a master craftsman. The weh-weh plotline is a little thin, but it is the only element of the novel that read to me as a bit of an unnecessary distraction.