City on Fire is one heck of a weighty novel. Even by the scale of some of this year's Man Booker Prize shortlisted novels, Garth Risk Hallberg's 960 page epic is am ambitious tome. As a debut novel this is unquestionably a staggering feat, but the question is, does Hallberg deliver value for his (much hyped and deftly negotiated) $2 Million advance?
The novel is set in early 1970s New York and follows a number of loosely connected characters affected by a seemingly random shooting on New Year's Eve in Central Park. The grimy New York of the novel is wonderfully researched and drawn clearly from a deep and implicit understanding of the city. The myriad characters are well conceived but it remains the city that is the star of the novel and what a splendid protagonist she is.
The narrative flips between long pensive prose and more pacey dialogue by diving in and out of the kaleidoscopic story. Characters build through a detailed narrative that flips backwards and forwards in a technique that sees broad storytelling next to chapters devoted to specific narrative rabbit holes. Chapters are interrupted by extracts from diaries, and at one point a student magazine, which adds to the immersion in to the World Hallberg creates but is a little distracting for e-readers.
These highly articulate experiments which are often times successful but occasionally leave you wondering why the novel couldn't have been edited down by at least 250 pages. Hallberg has previously written short stories for the New Yorker and to some degree this work can be seen as an anthology in which you'll find parts you love next to parts you'll frankly want to skim.
So, did Hallberg deliver? The literary World needs new stars and the hype and column inches generated around this debut novel, for me, are a vital promotion for fiction overall. Bring on the next generation!
Next up on the reading list is Marina Keegan's posthumous anthology The Opposite of Loneliness.
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