Last Night in Twisted River: A Novel

"Last Night in Twisted River, Irving’s twelfth novel, depicts the United States as a world “where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.” I find this theme so apposite for the times in which those United States now find themselves. Aside being his most meta novel, it’s also probably his most prescient one as it charts America’s descent into post-imperialism. The book is a massive accomplishment of a master novelist at the peak of his powers. Dickens is his inspiration – and along the way he picks apart the major issues facing contemporary America channelled through the prism of his own story. Like Dickens, he never shies away from high emotion, self-revelation, and even sentimentality. For that I love him."