If William Gibson, Michael Connelly, and Neil Gaiman wrote a series, it might end up looking like The Familiar. Continue reading The Familiar, Volume 5: Redwood, by Mark Z. Danielewski @ NYJB
“The Familiar” series weaves a series of interrelated narratives together. It combines different genres and styles, ranging from hard-boiled Los Angeles noir to stream-of-consciousness psychological introspection. It is referential and self-referential with typographic experimentation and excesses. At times the traditional arrangement of paragraphs shatter, explode, or blur. In other instances the words form pictures, the boundaries between word and image disappearing altogether. Continue reading The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades, by Mark Z. Danielewski @ NYJB
When does an experimental novel become formulaic? Is formula inherently a bad thing? When will Xanther give the little one a name? Continue reading The Familiar, Volume 3: Honeysuckle & Pain, by Mark Z. Danielewski @ NYJB
The saga of Xanther and her cat continue in “The Familiar, Volume 2: Into the Woods,” by Mark Z. Danielewski. But questions arise when her father Anwar takes them to the vet. The vet tells Xanther that her puff of white fur isn’t a cat at all, but a dog. It isn’t just born, but very old. It also belongs to someone else. Continue reading The Familiar, Volume 2: Into the Forest, by Mark Z. Danielewski @NYJB
The Driftless Area Review 