Month: April 2013

THE FOLLY OF THE WORLD by Jesse Bullington

A few weeks ago I finished this latest book by Jesse Bullington. At this point, I’ll probably read just about everything he writes. He describes a 15th century Holland rich in a day-to-day grotesquerie. The beginning feels like a nod toward his first book, THE BROTHERS GROSSBART, but the violent gore subsides to a sort of throbbing undercurrent after that. Likewise, any supernatural elements are presented in a glancing, sidelong fashion, unlike the sorcerously soaked THE ENTERPRISE OF DEATH.

This book succeeds on the strange near-decency of its two protagonists, doing their best to survive and prosper in a completely insane world. A book like this makes me quite glad to be living in the 21st century.