Books of the month: From Jonathan Coe’s Mr Wilder and Me to Thomas McMullan’s The Last Good Man
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Mr Wilder & Me by Jonathan Coe is published by Viking on 5 November, £16.99 Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu ★★★★☆ “It sucks being Generic Asian Man,” says Willis Wu, the protagonist of Charles Yu’s dazzlingly inventive novel Interior Chinatown, which was shortlisted for the 2020 National Book Awards. As well as providing a device to satirise lame television procedurals – Wu appears in a clichéd “black and white buddy cop” show, an educational kids show and a courtroom drama – the screenplay device sums up Wu’s lack of control over a life in which Asian Americans actors are little more than human props. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu is published by Europa Editions on 5 November £12.99 The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery by Michael Taylor ★★★★☆ Michael Taylor says that he is keen to “interrogate the myths of British history” in his powerful analysis of how Britain’s rulers were violently supportive of colonial slavery. The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery by Michael Taylor is published by The Bodley Head on 5 November, £20 Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam ★★★★☆ When Amanda, an account director in advertising, finds the perfect-sounding Airbnb holiday retreat – an advert entices guests to “step into our beautiful house and leave the world behind” – she and husband Clay, a college professor, and their children Archie, 15, and Rose, 13, head off to the remote Long Island retreat.
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