PositiveBookforumIt’s worth noting that the components of this dystopian world (the 'Zone of Anarchy,' the 'Year of Hate') are decidedly DeLillo-esque, as is the atmosphere of paranoia that gives way to paradox ('the implausibility of the conspiracy is precisely what makes it plausible,' one character anxiously observes). This is not to say that Means is derivative. The impulse here is homage, a nod to the master, not imitation. Indeed, one of the enduring satisfactions of reading Means is to sense his singular generosity, which is another way of saying that he has more heart than many of his contemporaries. He does not view his characters’ suffering with ironic detachment. He imbues raw grief ('Did I imagine your face a couple of hundred times, pained, twisted in front of your loss, blooming like a flower?') and nihilism ('Forget heaven. Forget eternity.') with deeply felt anguish. He is benevolent enough to give the good guys a happy ending, or at least the chance at one.
