Tyler Cowen names Vikram Chandra's behemoth new novel Sacred Games as his early pick for novel of the year. I'm not yet into the 2007 releases, but from 2006, you can't do much better than Claire Messud's exquisite The Emperor's Children. I've actually been reading a lot of fiction lately, including Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which was significantly less good than I was expecting (though I couldn't get into Kavalier and Clay, either, so Chabon may just not work for me). At the moment, I'm deep in Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn, a linguistically dazzling and inventive detective novel featuring a protagonist with Tourette's -- read it. I also recently read Lethem's book of essays, The Disappointment Artist, and found them intimidatingly intelligent, but not particularly fun or interesting to read. The Fortress of Solitude, however, remains one of my favorite books, and should be read by anyone who likes words.
