John Darnielle's Blog: Book Acquisition Syndrome

When people send or give me a book, I always try to make a point of saying: "It takes me forever to get around to anything." My editor at FSG, Sean McDonald, gave me Neuman's Traveler of the Century during one of our earliest meetings -- before I'd even finished Wolf in White Van, I think. I started reading Traveler...last week.

So far it's tremendous -- I often struggle with stories involving 19th-century European customs and manners, but Neuman is a magnificent, patient teller of tales. I'm about a quarter of the way through and his ability to venture in and back out of his characters' minds is honestly dazzling.

Traveler of the Century