Another novel we love this summer is Kate Christensen's The Astral. Its central character, poet Harry Quirk, has just been kicked out of his Brooklyn apartment by his wife of many years. She's discovered his latest collection of poems, written about fictional women, and is convinced he's having an affair with one of the couple's longtime friends. As Harry tries to recover from the shock, figure out if he can save his marriage, and find a job with steady income, he looks for support and answers from a memorable cavalcade of characters. His two adult children have taken wildly different paths; daughter Karina is committed to the "freegan" lifestyle of rooting through dumpsters for household items and food, and son Hector has joined a religious colony that appears perilously close to a cult.The book deals with a man who's life is seriously crumbling, but there are many funny moments. As readers, we're only privvy to Harry's side of the story, though we sometimes get glimpses of other perspectives from his conversations with family and friends. You may occasionally question his reliability as a narrator, but you'll probably still find yourself rooting for him in the end.
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