Gun Machine is the second novel by a graphic novelist/artist, Warren Ellis. It's basically a police procedural with the most dysfunctional people you could imagine, which is what sets it apart from your usual police procedural. If you take your usual off-beat forensic techs from, say, CSI New York, and multiply the nutting ten-fold, you have the techs in this book. The detective is an equally off-beat NYC history buff who just wants to be left the fuck alone to do his job, which, of course, the supremely insane police higher-ups won't do. It's weird, but it's a fun read. I just got his first book out of the library.
Then there's Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, which I'm listening to. I'm surprised that this hasn't been the subject of any discussion here, as it captures, I think, the essence of the left/right, rural/urban, educated/un- (under?) educated divide. It's a bit tedious and pedantic in parts, but it's worth the time. I'm about 2/3 of the way through, and I don't know how it's going to turn out, but to this point it's more than a little frightening to think that Kingsolver is right about the conservative end of the spectrum. Nothing we don't already know, but still an eye-opener in some ways.
= new reply since forum marked as read