RaveThe Los Angeles Review of BooksIn a culture of literary fiction that still widely celebrates that axiom of the creative writing workshop — 'find your voice' — Wayne’s virtuosity lies in an ability to convey his own distinctive ironic sensibility and ethos entirely through the voices of others ... Teddy Wayne’s work is always highly attuned to the mood and fixations of the contemporary moment, and Loner is a campus novel for our times, reflecting distinctly modern anxieties about the state of American higher education ... What had begun as a witty comedy of campus manners becomes a study in pathological narcissism and sexual aggression. The novel’s brilliance lies in the way Wayne toys with the reader’s sympathies while allowing his narrator to pursue his dreadful end ... Unfortunately, the book’s literary playfulness might leave the impression that Loner is just playing with rape, and some readers will doubtless think that Wayne should find a new toy. At the same time however, the novel’s formal virtuosity — the qualities responsible for the gap between author and narrator — are also the essence of Wayne’s prowess. Like its narrator, Loner is one prickly piece of work, but the genius is hard to miss.
Rick Moody
MixedLos Angeles Review of BooksMorse’s sharply observed evisceration of commercialized hospitality stands on its own, and requires no post-hoc literary-philosophical noodling to justify its existence. My advice, fellow travelers, is to relish the individually shrink-wrapped cookies, enjoy the industrial-strength showerhead, and wring as much pleasure out of the 'video incidentals' as you possibly can. Savor the amenities, because Hotels of North America (much like the life of its peripatetic narrator) doesn’t arrive anywhere particularly satisfying. Maybe that’s the point.
