Publishers Weekly

Fiction Reviews

FEBRUARY 2, 2026 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 85

however, over fears of infection. As the days pass, Russell commits to what Corrine calls an “adolescent sense of invulnerability,” and they attend the opening of their chef daughter Storey’s restaurant, followed by dinner with a pompous group of Russell’s fellow oenophiles. e string of nightlife scenes aord McInerney ample opportunities for razor-sharp observations on Manhattan’s elite, as well as sensuous depictions of culinary pleasures. Darker threads run throughout, including the loss of Corrine’s mother, Covid’s grim reali- ties, and the unstable bonds of mar- riage (Russell’s view of Washington as the “least likely monogamist” fore- shadows trouble). McInerney’s fans will savor this sobering conclusion to an insightful saga. Agent: Amanda Urban, CAA. (Apr.) Fat Swim Emma Copley Eisenberg. Hogarth, $28 (240p) ISBN 978-0-593-24226-1 e protagonists of this glittering story collection from Eisenberg ( Housemates ) grapple with the messi- ness of desire and their relationship to their bodies as queer and fat peo- ple. In the title story, eight-year-old Alice longs to join the fat ladies who gather weekly at a public pool she watches from her window. When she nally sneaks out to join them one day, she’s comforted by their open- ness compared to her stiing mother. In “Beauty,” a lonely woman named Marion posts reels of herself apply- ing makeup, from contouring like drag star Divine to looks that make her appear thinner or fatter. Two intriguing plotlines ensue, as Marion accepts payments from a fan for private content and reveals that she’s been bought out from a beauty com- pany she cofounded aer she gained weight. Jules, the trans narrator of the excellent “Lanterny,” works as an assistant for famous elderly gay writer Rob, and feels sad about being tasked with helping Rob nd hook- ups via Grindr, given that Jules wants Rob to want him. Some entries feel underdeveloped, more like sketches

aer omas’s death, the narrator travels to Madrid for a sympo- sium on omas’s work, where he’s questioned aer saying that he had drawn some of the now-published inter- view with omas from memory. e novel

Transcription Ben Lerner. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25 (144p) ISBN 978-0-374-61859-9 IN THE BEAUTIFUL and resonant latest from Lerner ( e Topeka School ), a middle- aged man constructs an elaborate farewell to his mentor. In the rst of three sections, the unnamed narrator travels to Providence, R.I., to interview 90-year-old artist omas for a magazine article. e narrator plans to record their conversation on his iPhone, which he accidentally breaks just before the appointment. Unable to admit the problem to omas, he proceeds with the interview, and omas embarks on his characteristi- cally stunning soliloquies on art, light, and sound (“ere is always music playing that we cannot hear.... We are deaf to the bats singing in ultrasound, or the elephants con- versing in their infrasound.... e air is alive with messages”). In the second section, set ★

concludes with a dialogue between the nar- rator and omas’s son, Max. e pair, who have been friends since college, grapple with their complex relationships with omas (“Maybe you were the real son, maybe I was the clone or robot or doppelgänger,” Max tells the narrator), and new mysteries arise over the course of their conversation. Lerner’s lyrical narrative brims with insights into how memories take and change shape, the nature of father gures, and the ways an artist’s inuence echoes through time. It’s a knock- out. Agent: Anna Stein, CAA. (Apr.)

or impressions, but stories such as “Beauty” succeed at capturing the eects of isolation, as Marion remem- bers how she once would “emerge like a mole into daylight.” ese oeat tales oer readers much to admire. Agent: Jin Auh, Wylie Agency. (Apr.) Superstars Ann Scott, trans. from the French by Jonathan Woollen. Astra House, $22 (304p) ISBN 978-1-66260-347-1 ★ ❘ A wild music scene and an illicit aair propel Scott’s entrancing English-language debut, which was originally published in France in 2000. In 1990s Paris, 31-year-old Louise has spent a year hanging out with a group of queer 20-something women who are xtures in the city’s techno scene, including her roommate Pallas, with whom she occasionally hooks up, and well-known DJ Alex, her ex-girl- friend. Perpetually broke, driing between clubs, raves, and lovers, sometimes in a drug-fueled haze, Louise sees a chance at a dierent kind of future when she lands a major record deal that gives her enough

money and time to break free from her close-knit circle and make her own music, “an electro record with lots of rock in it.” But leaving the techno world behind is dicult, in part because of Alex’s current girlfriend, Inès, a seductive student with a serious drug habit and a serious crush on Louise. ere is also the pull of Louise’s ex-boyfriend Nikki, a rocker and former heroin user. As Louise careens between these choices, Scott’s addictive narrative oers a kaleidoscopic look at a lively milieu and a woman’s struggle to overcome heartbreak and obsession, and make a life for herself as an artist. Readers will be thrilled. Agent: Alex Reubert, HG Literary. (Apr.) American Fantasy Emma Straub. Riverhead, $30 (304p) ISBN 979-8-217-04685-0 A nostalgia cruise for a once famous boy band and their diehard middle- aged fans provides an opportunity for second chances in this disap- pointing outing from Straub ( is Time Tomorrow ). Back in the 1980s and ’90s, Boy Talk ignited millions of teenage girls’ dreams, including those

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