Doxology audiobook

Nell Zink is a truly original novelist, with tons of wit and intellect, and an especially impressive depth of understanding of the complexities of what it means to try to live as an enlightened liberal human in an era of unfettered global capitalism. Where she falls a bit short is in piercing the hearts of her vibrantly drawn, oddball characters. But she’s intensely perceptive, and skilled at depicting recognizably weird and specific behavior, and I really never was able to remotely predict where her narrative was heading next. I can imagine her style would be off-putting to some, but I really enjoyed this examination of a family living in ripped-from-the-headlines contemporary NYC & DC. And I look forward to reading more of her work.

Nell Zink has proved herself to be one heck of a writer in the past, but I must admit that Doxology, her fourth novel, was not as compelling as I had anticipated. That said, it still very much packs a punch it just isn't as original an idea as her other books. It's really a tale of two halves with the first half detailing Joe, Dan and Pam's lives and the time in which they grew up. The second half focuses on Pam and Dan's daughter Flora and her coming of age in a divided America. Joe, Dan and Pam's family dramas primarily take place in the first section of the novel and then two key events take place - 9/11 and a family tragedy followed by Flora in her formative years and an exploration of current politics, environmental and ecological issues. There is quite a bit of commentary on American politics, popularism (including Trump) and activism.This is another eminently readable, humorous and moving book from Ms Zink which covers the 1990s right through to the 2016 elections. I must admit that I found myself feeling overcome with nostalgia after some of the references to the 90s. However, the constant interruption of the narrative flow by a particular character to highlight a certain political or cultural development from the past decades spoiled the immersion at times. Despite this Zink's prowess is on show as the characterisation is astonishing (the cast felt like friends I had known forever by the end) and the richly evoked sense of time and place was impressive. This is an ambitious novel with, at times, a huge amount going on within its pages, but Zink manages to pull it off with considerable aplomb. Many thanks to Fourth Estate for an ARC.

I have read several books this year that have dealt in some way, at times just tangentially, with the 2016 presidential election. And now here's Nell Zink's contribution to the oeuvre, although that portion of her story comes at the end of a fairly long novel dealing with the history of American politics and culture beginning in the late 1980s, as experienced by two fairly clueless young people who moved individually to New York City from different parts of the country.Pamela grew up in an upper-middle-class white family in Washington, D.C. She had all the privilege that such an upbringing entails, but as she neared the end of her high school years, she rebelled against the plans her parents had for her. She did not want to go to any of the colleges they suggested; she had a different vision for her life. And so she packed a few things, took what money she could scrape together, and took off to New York to pursue her vision. She had no contact with her parents after that for many years.Daniel came from a fundamentalist Christian family in the Midwest. He managed to complete college before he fled, but he, too, made his way to New York and the two young people met there through another friend that Pamela had made, Joe Harris, who was destined to become a rock star.The three of them are devoted to music and they play together in small, anonymous bands before Joe becomes famous. Pamela and Daniel become lovers during this period and eventually, an accidental pregnancy changes their lives. They decide to marry and when their daughter, Flora, is born, the three of them together raise her during her early years with Joe providing babysitting when the parents are at work.During this time Joe continues to pursue his musical career with Daniel as "manager" and finally he hits the big time and starts raking in the big bucks. Then comes 9/11 and everything changes.Pamela and Daniel are concerned for their young daughter living in the toxic air that has enveloped New York in the wake of the attacks. Pamela contacts her parents and asks to come for a visit. They take Flora there and they are all joyfully welcomed. After some time Pamela and Daniel return to New York, but they leave Flora with the grandparents and there she stays for the rest of her upbringing, occasionally making visits to New York to stay with her parents. (Why the parents so easily agreed to this is one of the mysteries unsolved by the narrative.) The remainder of the story focuses on Flora.She grows up with a fervor to save the planet. She attends George Washington University and pursues her interest in climate change and soil erosion. She becomes increasingly politicized and, when no other jobs present themselves, in 2016 she joins the Green Party candidate Jill Stein's campaign. She knows that the campaign is a joke, but of course, it can pose no threat to Hillary Clinton and she just needs to build her résumé.Flora meets two men on the campaign trail who are destined to impact her life. The first is a cynical middle-aged Democratic strategist who understands clearly the existential threat that the Republican candidate poses. The second is a young idealistic former Sanders supporter, now a staffer on the Clinton campaign. I don't want to give away the entire plot here. Zink's novel is a very ambitious and wide-ranging delineation of the events of the 1980s up to the current day. And mostly, I think she delivers on her objectives. I found the first part of the novel dealing with Daniel and Pamela more compelling, but that may have been only because I found it easier to identify with them. The story lost some of its steam for me in its second half, but, on the whole, the author dealt with the madness of our political times with intelligence and humor and she has produced a very good and readable book.

This was my first time reading Nell Zink and I see now why she has such a cult-following: her writing style is this wonderful mix of intellect, wit, and sharpness. Doxology’s voice tells, it doesn’t show. Often in literary fiction we prefer showing, not telling, but Zink’s reversal of this really worked here. Doxology is the story of a family of multiple generations and how history and politics (think: 9/11 and the Trump era) have marked their own personal histories. ⁣⁣It’s undeniable that Zink has her finger on the pulse of the political and cultural landscape of DC and New York. Whether or not you agree with her diagnosis’s or prescriptions is beside the point; you must have a base-line admiration for how intelligently she writes about our state of affairs both presently and from the 1990s and early aughts. Most writing about the Trump era in recent fiction is pretty milquetoast in my opinion and leaves us with conclusions that most of us already feel (trump=bad), so I enjoyed Zink delving into subjects beyond the surface level, like elitism, the idealism of millennials, the various ways privilege presents, etc. That being said, I still had an insipid taste left in my mouth with some of the conclusions Zink draws, but perhaps that is because I’m politically active and politically aware. I think any author in this era would have trouble truly shocking or presenting radical inferences among select populations of readers.⁣⁣I also need to commend that I really never got bored reading, which can invariably happen with books over 400 pages; however, I never found myself speed reading to move it along. I think that says a lot about Zink’s singular writing. It sounds cliche saying her sentences are just so sharp, but they really are. I can see the writing coming across as too high-brow to some readers, but Zink had my prompt attention for the full course of the book. I’m looking forward to picking up her other novels. Doxology has a lot to unpack in terms of politics and culture and I think it would make a great book club read, even if it may not seem like an obvious pick on the surface. There are some really interesting discussions to be had on the differences between boomers, Gen X, millennials, and the way history has shaped these generations respectively. Many thanks to Ecco for sending me a copy!

So it’s 2020 and time to review a few books I read over the holiday. My New Year’s resolution in Goodreads is to write briefer reviews of the books I have read, and angle the review as memory aid to myself rather than a nifty bit of writing for others. Also, not much plot summary since many of the reviews cover this.I liked this book. I liked it breadth of scope that covers a goodly span of time from about the 80’s until today. Yes indeed, by the time we reach the end of the book we have read about 9/11, the increasing awareness of the ecological planetary crisis we face, and, of course, The Donald gets a mention as well.The writing is crisp, clear, but a bit too lean for my taste. The characters are a bit wooden, stilted, but fortunately never uninteresting, unbelievable or too stereotypical. This is a book I would eagerly recommend to a friend with the caveat that they might find it a bit too cute and contrived. I didn’t but I know people who would.

Totally loved this book!I felt very connected to Pam, the main character, who is my age and with whom I share quite some (musical) interests, as well as to her daughter Flora.I am strongly recommending this!

I love Nell Zink! No one writes like her. Except this novel, which reads like her writing like other people. Maybe Jonathan Lethem Franzen or something. Not a bad thing; just not as crazy wild and amazingly different as previous novels. I'm glad someone -- and especially her -- wrote about 80s/90s indie-rock culture. She knows of what she speaks! Then, however, the book for me gets bogged down a bit in the middle, and finally comes on strong at the end. I liked these people; I cared about these people (or at least most of them). I didn't want to relive 2016 tho. Ugh. Can we just call a moratorium on Trump mentions in all novels for at least 5 years? Thanks.

"It seemed to her an admission - an assertion even - that meaning arose in the spirit and grew in the mind." "Flora saw that the planet would definitley not be saved by technical solutions intended to mitigate, and thus condone, carbon emissions. Nor would it be saved by fairer distribution of the power to consume and destroy. Her struggle must be a political struggle under the cover of beauty. Her mission: to end economic growth."

First appeared at https://www.thenewdorkreviewofbooks.c... I've heard it said that Nell Zink is a bit of an acquired taste. Over the course of a late-blooming career spanning several novels, (she was "discovered" by The Franzen from a letter she wrote to him about birds) she has developed a rabid base of passionate fans. But there are also many detractors: She's been called too eccentric, too nontraditional, too weird.To me, though, her books have always sounded fascinating, but I'd never read her until now. Her latest novel, Doxology is really strong, even if a bit different from your standard contemporary fiction fare, or even her own backlist. Ron Charles in the Washington Post wrote that Doxology felt like Zink trying "to behave at the dinner table." If this is Zink behaving, I definitely can't wait to find out what she's like when she's not! She is, on a line-by-line dialogue basis, one of the funnier, more clever writers I've read in a long time. Her rapid-fire exchanges are Sorkin-esque, except if Sorkin had a demented, irreverent sense of humor. For example, early in the novel, Zink has two of her characters worrying about a possible pregnancy they may not be ready for. The woman concludes with "I should get a pregnancy test. Maybe it's just ovarian cancer." ... as if she's HOPING it's ovarian cancer instead of pregnancy. If you think that's funny, and I howled laughing when I read that, you'll probably love this book too. Every bit of dialogue is like this. You have to pay attention, or it'll zing right over your head.Thematically, the novel is a really interesting look at art, music, politics, and the differences in how Gen X and Millennials seem to drift through and collide with the world. The first part is about Gen Xers Joe, Daniel, and Pam, who meet in the late 1980s in New York City because of a shared interest in music. They write 'zines, they play in bands, they meet up on Saturday nights to listen to records. It's not long before Daniel and Pam are dating (and Pam is pregnant). Joe — a prolific songwriter, but something of an odd fellow, who feels no shame, and doesn't seem to know when he annoys people — actually begins to garner some outside attention for his music. Daniel and Pam carefully manage Joe's careful ascension to fame, and helps him navigate the tricky music world.Then, 9/11. And everything changes,. Not just because of the horrific terrorist attacks, but also because of a tragedy in the lives of this trio. From here, the novel shifts from a story about Joe, Pam, and Daniel to a story about Pam and Daniel's daughter, Flora, who is 9 years old at the time of the attacks. Growing up in the post-9/11 world, and shuttling between life in New York and her grandparents' in Washington, D.C., Flora develops an innate idealism and hopes to change the world. But as she makes her way, this idealism is constantly challenged by the amount of cynicism and corruption she seems to find. Flora is 24 as the 2016 election rolls around, and she begins working for the Green Party, and campaigning for Jill Stein (this, after a brief, unsuccessful stint at Sierra Club, where she realized how little difference she was making). She dates a much-older Democratic consultant who warns everyone, to deaf ears, about the real danger of Donald Trump. But working for Jill Stein again makes her confront her idealism: She believes in the Green Party, but of course, it's a third-party with no real chance to win. And so, as she realizes she may be siphoning off Hillary votes, and handing the election to Trump, she has some tough choices to make. Add to that some personal relationshiop drama, and you have a Zink-ian character nearing the end of her rope.As you might expect, nothing wraps up cleanly. But the journey through these 400 messy, meandering pages is a blast. I thoroughly enjoyed this because of Zink's wicked sense of humor and the fact that her narrative just seems to go where it will. I mean, the plot is linear time-wise, but you sort of get the sense that Zink sits down to write and lets the plot run its course. There's no outlining here. I'm really glad I finally dove in with Zink, and this is highly recommended if you're up for a modern novel that takes on a lot of our current issues in an amusingly profane way.

The Phenomena of NowThe author’s poise & wit run through NYC art-rock in the 80-90s & land at the start of Trump’s reign. It includes traditional family connections & self-made families bound by affection, perspective, & loyalties. Very realistic, socially/politically aware & wryly relatable. Nell Zink presents smart, believable characters in the third person, allowing the reader to get inside minor characters as well as main characters. I admired the subtle developments of one generation growing older without losing their individuality. Their core idealism becomes more flexible but does not retreat or succumb. The daughter benefits from a common but rarely presented upbringing! Her grandparents get it right this time & allow their daughter & her husband to be themselves—busy & ardent with limited but still significant personalities for nurturing a child, teenager, young woman.

This book feels like it was written just for me, between references to Silver Spring, the National Zoo’s pandas, Pam and Daniel’s Gen X perspective, and Flora’s political activism. Then I found out that the Nell Zink wrote fiction for a single pen pal for 15 years, and thought that if she and I had been pen pals, this book is a lot like I would have wanted her to write. (I also get called Pam a lot since my name also begins with P).I feel like I got this book, and even though it’s not perfect, it’s imperfect in the right ways for me to enjoy. I’m a Nick Hornsby fan, and this seemed very High Fidelityesque in its characters’ devotion to music to the exclusion of life. There seemed like a lot of unfinished business, down to the very end, but I don’t mind some level of ambiguity, especially when I related to Pam feeling like she never got her life together (until she did). Sometimes the pieces fall into place, sometimes they don’t. I related to this book a lot; while YMMV, I think it’s a well-written book and I hope it gets more acclaim.

I was surprised I didn't hear more about this book last year. Maybe it's due to how literary blogs are basically a thing of the past; or maybe it's due to how Zink is no longer the out-of-nowhere surprise she was during Wallcreeper, but I still didn't see much chatter about this. I just remark on this because it reminded me, in scope and skill, of Flamethrowers, which Zink refers to in Doxology, and which everybody seemed to be talking about whenever that came out, as opposed to the radio silence about this one. That's a long way of saying that this book swung for the cultural fences and, I feel, really connected, but for whatever reason hasn't gotten the reception that Franzen gets for writing books with far less humor than this one. There are certainly areas in the book that were uneven, but it does capture this terrible era we live in, and the choices our society has made and continues to make, as good as any of her contemporaries.

Honestly I just think I give Nell Zink so much credit for being a technically good writer, and weird and creative, and writing great dialogue, and even if I don't always LOVE the book I'm still impressed at the end?? Even if I think maybe it was boring and didn't make sense? But I am undeniably impressed?IDK, help.

This novel is ambitious, detailed, spectacularly well-informed on a variety of subjects. I kind of imagine this appealing to fans of David Foster Wallace (can't say for sure, I've never read his books). In the early pages, knowing indie/punk rock references to Forced Exposure, Byron Coley, Scratch Acid and Ian MacKaye got me wondering if any music journalism I'd done would be referenced (it's not, that's fine). Then the story ambles into environmental science and the 2016 election campaign (from the Green Party perspective), which kind of makes this three novels in one.

Really liked this book, even though the major event in the middle almost caused me to quit reading the book. Raw, funny, shocking and an inciteful observation of the characters, the location and the times.

This was sloooooooowww but I loved it. It’s smart and funny and edgy, although not as edgy as say Nicotine. A family saga with a twist.

Good writing with a nice dose of satire makes this a excellent read. There is a decent plot here, but the ending is a bit wobbly. Still it’s worth the effort. Nell Zink is a good writer and I look forward to reading more of her work.