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Wayward (Hardcover, 2021, Knopf) 4 stars

upstate NY books are the song of my people

5 stars

I took a long time to finish this and I have no idea why; maybe I was trying to savor it. But I thought this was a truly beautiful portrait of a sad, forgotten city with all kinds of tragic dilapidated weirdness and ruined finery (Syracuse, NY). I lived there over 10 years ago and it was strange yet familiar to see a contemporary portrait - or a portrait of that place that’s been impacted and influenced by the contemporary in a way that seems separate in my mind. One of my favorites this year.