A review by bibliocyclist
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

emotional funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

Are you apt to nudge the envelope?  Do you more often think before you act or think instead of act?  What goes without saying, and “why must everything have already begun”?  If you already accept the absence of self, the impermanence of all things, and the unsatisfactory nature of ordinary experience but harbor the suspicion that you’re still Doin’ It Wrong, check out the rapid-fire novella Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill.  Step into the shoes of its unnamed, rockily-married narrator, join the ghost of Carl Sagan in making apple pie from scratch, journey past your breaking point to the place “where no one can go any further,” and plot out a new map from there.