Can we all agree before I start that Kevin Brockmeier is a beautiful and inventive writer? His novel The Brief History of the Dead still haunts me even thought it’s been years since I’ve read it. And his short story “The Ceiling” (which you can read online right here, how rad is that?) gives me goosebumps every single time I read it, and I’ve read it a lot. Can we agree to that? Good.

So now imagine my surprise to read his latest book, The Illumination and find myself not just disappointed but kind of bored at times. It’s crushing, I tell you.

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