Jonathan Lethem, a singular force in American literature, has made a name by blending genre fiction with literary depth, pushing boundaries with narratives that resist convention. Brooklyn-born in 1964, the once aspiring artist draws from his urban roots, early fascination with comic books, and his father’s artistic influence, creating stories where pop culture and philosophy collide. From Motherless Brooklyn to The Fortress of Solitude, his novels don’t just inhabit genres—they elevate them, probing identity, memory, and cultural fragmentation with a painter’s eye for detail and a storyteller’s boldness.
In The Cellophane Bricks, Lethem plunges into new narrative terrain, blending visual culture with literary form in what feels like his rawest, most introspective work yet.
I DON’T SEE GENRES AS PURE FORMS NEEDING TO BE CLEANED UP OR LEGITIMISED Part memoir,…
