A Different Kind of Tension

Lethem (Brooklyn Crime Novel) offers a revelatory career-spanning collection of 30 fantastical and speculative stories, all but 11 of which have appeared in previous volumes. Among the often-melancholy characters are “Sleepy People” protagonist Judith Map, who finds a sleepwalking man on her doorstep and takes him into her apartment. She has sex with him while he sleeps, and afterward seeks answers about his provenance from a militia who hangs out at a nearby bar. Other characters endure alienation, such as those in “Program’s Progress” who aspire to upward mobility in a weird world where cars are the highest order of being; or disembodiment, like the party guests in “Forever, Said the Duck” who arrive as virtual reality simulations of themselves. In the standout “Red Sun School of Thoughts,” a 13-year-old boy visits a commune in 1976 San Francisco, and his desire for answers from the Founder leads to a strange and disenchanting encounter. The imagery is often suggestive, hovering in a genre-defying space between literal and metaphorical, as with the predatory teen gang members referred to as dinosaurs in “Sleepy People.” In large doses, the effect can be exhausting, but the repeating motifs—claustrophobia, desire, malevolent chaos—provide keys to understanding Lethem’s often elliptical tales. The author’s fans will find much to love. Agent: Eric Simonoff, WME. (Sept.)