On Jan. 1, 2021, all copyrighted works published in 1925 entered the public domain in the United States. Among these were Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway,” Ernest Hemingway’s “In Our Time” and the Great American Novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” A crop of “Gatsby” adaptations have since sprung up, including more lighthearted versions like the parody novel, “The Great Gatsby: But Nick has Scoliosis,” and an adult coloring book. The rendition garnering the most buzz, however, came from Michael Farris Smith, recipient of the 2014 Mississippi Author Award for Fiction. Smith’s prequel, “Nick,” focuses on the eponymous Nick Carraway’s life before meeting eccentric millionaire Jay Gatsby, expanding on Nick’s childhood and time in the army. Unfortunately, vitiated by a lackluster narrative voice and a trite plot, “Nick” not only fails to live up to its predecessor, but fails to justify its own existence.
Susanna Clarke’s ‘Piranesi' blends fantasy, expansive language and a stereotypical portrayal of minority characters
At around 250 pages, British author Susanna Clarke’s second novel “Piranesi” seems miniscule in comparison to her 800-page debut novel “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.” But with its imaginative world and compelling narrator, “Piranesi” packs a powerful epistemological punch. The book, however, is not without flaws — its portrayal of minority characters ultimately falls short, leaning on worn-out stereotypes of gay men and people of color.