(The other book this might be profitably read against is Jerzy Kosiński’s The Hermit of 69th Street, published in 1988 – it feels like it might be an America version of this? Both are narrated by older, somewhat disgraced writers with clear linguistic ability whose reliability and grasp on history is clearly in question; both traffic in autofiction. I’m not sure I’d wish either book on anyone; but an informed critical reading of the two books together would be useful.)