![]() What is surprising is to see it done so well, and so thoughtfully. So much is often left out of the lengthy production that becomes an author’s first novel that it provides at least some place to find one’s footing in the rush toward the next. It is not surprising in our sequel-saturated moment to see an author return to prior material that so powerfully (and, of course, profitably) resonated with readers and critics. ![]() ![]() In Cleanness, Greenwell accomplishes much the same feat, but with important differences that reveal both that he has much more he wants to tell us and his striking savviness as an author navigating the art trade of contemporary publishing. What Belongs to You is a fine novel, imbued with Greenwell’s rare gift for matching languorous, perceptive prose - or, rather, prose that captures the minutiae of perception and the fault lines of our knowledge of self and others - with a story that remains engaging from start to finish. In that first novel, Greenwell explored the dense complexity of power, shame, and desire in the relationship between an American expat teaching in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the street tough to whom he becomes increasingly, inconveniently attached after their first meet in the bathrooms beneath the National Palace of Culture in the capital city. ![]() THE MOST HOTLY ANTICIPATED queer title of the new decade (though it is only January, dear), Garth Greenwell’s Cleanness offers a familiarly impressive follow-up to his widely acclaimed 2016 debut novel, What Belongs to You. ![]()
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