His entry begins:It is difficult to credit, or to explain, just why so many masterpieces were written in Hungary in the early part of the twentieth century. Perhaps it has something to do with the rich loam created by a decaying empire. In any case, whenever I tell anyone about my thing for mid-century Middle-European literature, they always have another obscure favorite for me to add to my list: Sándor Márai’s Embers, Miklós Bánffy’s They Were Counted, and most especially Dezsö Kosztolányi’s Skylark.Among the praise for Everything Happens Today:
Most recent of these (for me) is Antal Szerb’s 1937 novel Journey by Moonlight. I’m not sure where I heard this, but apparently all Hungarians grow up reading Journey by Moonlight, which...[read on]
“A deeply compassionate novel by a very fine writer."Learn more about the book and author at Jesse Browner's website.
--Joe O’Neill, author of Netherland
"This is magic. This is hope... Browner has crafted a stupendous, thought-provoking, devilishly delicious novel that reads like Zen koan meets Portrait of the Artist as aYoung Man with some modern 'english' that sets the plate spinning."
--Library Journal (starred review)
"In this 60th anniversary year of the quintessential novel of New York teen angst, Catcher in the Rye, Jesse Browner's Everything Happens Today updates Holden Caulfield and perhaps even bests Salinger with a funnier, kinder and wiser tale."
--Shelf Awareness (starred review)
"Each of the characters is wonderfully evoked, flawed and lovable and three-dimensional. By the end I was counting on Browner to get me out of this novel in one piece emotionally. That's how you know a book was worth the money."
--Rebecca Coleman, author of The Kingdom of Childhood
Writers Read: Jesse Browner.
--Marshal Zeringue
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