Hugely ambitious ... Though Johnson’s recent fiction is determinedly, even extravagantly, eclectic in setting and subject matter, it nonetheless displays a consistent style and tone. His writing is lavishly detailed and sharply intelligent, nuanced and lyrical but also funny and sometimes surreal. Although he often addresses extreme violence and suffering, his work is rarely somber or morbid, treating even the worst atrocities with a brisk, leavening wit ... A thoroughly surprising and enjoyable read ... After 700 pages, which go past at a clip, one wonders if the book is perhaps a little less than the sum of its many impressive parts. Certainly when placed next to The Orphan Master’s Son, The Wayfinder feels like a less weighty and urgent novel, but it is, nevertheless, quite clearly the work of an enormously talented and admirably adventurous writer.
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