The Astral (novel)

2011 novel by Kate Christensen

The Astral

Author| Kate Christensen
Language| English
Genre| Fiction
Published| 2011 (Doubleday)
Publication place| United States
Media type| Print (Hardback)
Pages| 311
ISBN| 9780385530910
OCLC| 666230046

The Astral is a 2011 novel by Kate Christensen. It is about a poet, Harry Quirk, who having been thrown out of the family apartment at the Astral by his wife Luz, attempts to get his life back together.

## Reception

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Daniel Handler, reviewing The Astral in The New York Times, called it "an object lesson on the current realist novel, with its pitfalls and pleasures both as clear as the book’s unsentimental vision." and concluded "the realist novel believes that we are, all of us ordinary people in our ordinary lives, enchanted already. .. But then when I open a novel, I expect something other than the ordinary circumstances that already surround me, be it in language or story. I think most readers do. To expect otherwise, as Christensen does in “The Astral,” seems a little, well, unrealistic."[1] The Washington Post found "that Christensen has somehow — again — created a captivatingly believable male narrator".[2]

The Astral has also been reviewed by Booklist,[3] Library Journal,[4] BookPage Reviews,[5] Kirkus Reviews,[6] and Publishers Weekly.[7]

## References

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1. ^ Handler, Daniel (July 29, 2011). "Sunday Book Review: The Pitfalls and Pleasures of the Current Realist Novel". The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
2. ^ Charles, Ron (June 14, 2011). "Books: 'The Astral' by Kate Christensen". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
3. ^ "The Astral : a novel". Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "A satisfying redoing of a man undone."
4. ^ "The Astral : a novel: Reviews". catalog.wccls.org. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "This could be a real charmer; watch."
5. ^ "The Astral: A Novel". kcls.bibliocommons.com. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "With acute perception and witty humor, this bittersweet novel moves along at a tremendous pace, entertaining until its climactic final scene."
6. ^ "The Astral (starred review)". Kirkus Media LLC. May 4, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "A masterpiece of comedy and angst. Think Gulley Jimson of Joyce Cary's The Horses Mouth transported from 1930s London to present-day Brooklyn."
7. ^ "The Astral (starred review)". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz LLC. April 11, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "Like the rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn of its setting, Christensen's unremittingly wonderful latest (after Trouble) is populated by an odd but captivating mix of characters."

*[OCLC]: Online Computer Library Center number