The New York Times Reviews The Solitary Twin

"It is hard to imagine the past half-century of pleasurable reading without the many strange books that clattered forth from [Harry] Mathews’s linguistic contraptions," writes Scott Bradfield at the New York Times in a review of Mathews's posthumous novel, The Solitary Twin (New Directions, 2018). On the nature of the thing:

Posthumous books almost always feel half-formed, coincidental, unpublished for a reason. Sadly, they usually come at a time when the author who wrote them deserves to be remembered for better books; instead, they end up being remembered for these broken little relics dug up from the basement. “The Solitary Twin,” however, may well be the last great surprise Mathews pulled out of his deep bag of tricks. It is funny, perplexing, consistent and unusual, with all the characteristic Mathews obsessions. It may also be one of the best places to start enjoying his work.

Set in a beach resort, “The Solitary Twin” is a short novel containing a multitude of stories, like a pocket-size “Decameron.” When a publisher and a psychologist begin an affair, their post- and pre-coital conversations become aroused by tales of twin brothers in the area who never speak or socialize with each other. Despite their resemblance, they live mutually exclusive lives, drinking “their pale ale at different bars.” One attends Methodist services, the other Roman Catholic, and so on. The lovers become intrigued. The publisher (who does not “publish literature as it’s commonly thought of — no novels, certainly no poetry or plays”) decides to commission a memoir from one twin, in hopes it will display “imagination demonstrated in the way unusual people chose or were forced to live their lives.” The psychologist, meanwhile, finds the twins a great opportunity to investigate her concerns about “how and why people do what they do independently of their feelings and will.”

Read the full review at the NYT.