Beyond the One Book

Aldous Huxley is one of those writers people think they’ve solved after reading one book. And, to be fair, Brave New World is a pretty convincing introduction. It’s sharp, memorable, endlessly quotable, and so absorbed into cultural shorthand that “Huxley” can start sounding less like a writer’s name and more like a warning about where…

Anthony Burgess is not just A Clockwork Orange. Yes, obviously, A Clockwork Orange matters. It’s famous for a reason. It’s sharp, strange, nasty, unforgettable, and written in a voice that grabs you by the collar almost immediately. It also has the kind of afterlife most novels never get anywhere near: school syllabi, cultural shorthand, the…