In the opening sentence of this subtle and finely poised novel, the narrator, Greg Marnier, known as ‘Marny’, admits that he ‘was never much good at telling stories’. By the end he is accused of having a ‘confessional streak, but no real desire to explain yourself’, while realising that ‘everything people do, everything they say, is just a clumsy form of self-defence’.
He is a singularly obtuse and convincing character — a thirtysomething lecturer with no sign of tenure. Then a chance encounter with a rich college friend leads him to re-locate to Detroit. This friend, Robert James, is buying derelict and abandoned properties, hoping to create a ‘Groupon model for gentrification’, turning online communities into real communities. The young professionals moving to Detroit see themselves as postmodern pioneers in a place where ‘instead of grass, the gardens grew mattresses, tyres and broken bricks’.
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