In Many Ways

In the discursive debut novella from poet Simon (Reign Is Over), a young writer and student named Emily meditates on relationships and language in New York City during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. She starts seeing a man named Mark, an antidote to spring fever. They ride the subway together, where she smiles behind her mask in response to disturbed people yelling on the cars. Others jokingly say things like “Front row seats to the show,” or “I miss New York.” Emily suggests in her narration that she’s having trouble holding onto her own sanity, a line that blurs for her while writing (“Coming apart can look a lot like artistic labor, like hard work”), and she reflects on spirituality and the nature of language (“I wonder if I believe in God and I find myself asking God the question”). By the next year, Mark has another girlfriend and Emily struggles with returning to a new normal, thinking about reuniting with students and teachers: “What will you say? What could you possibly say to me.” It’s all a bit meandering, but Simon has a knack for crystalline bursts of insight, and she conveys a genuine sense of yearning. This author has talent to burn. (May)