Book Rec of the Day 3/10/2007

Leon Meed is a bit like Elvis: Though missing, people keep seeing him everywhere. Emmons’s quirky, affecting first novel is a study of the characters Meed interacts with while missing. Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections) is a fan, saying, “Here’s how you know Josh Emmons is the real deal: He’s created a full spectrum of Californian characters who are ludicrous and ill-behaved and lovable in equal measure; he’s a major-league prose writer who has fun in every sentence without ever showing off or hitting a phony note; and you want to keep reading him for the pure pleasure of his company.”

THE LOSS OF LEON MEED, by Josh Emmons (Scribner, 2005)