Dept. of Speculation
{{short description|2014 novel by Jenny Offill}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Dept. of Speculation
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| image = File:Dept. of Speculation.jpg
| border = yes
| caption = First edition
| author = Jenny Offill
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| country = United States
| language = English
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| publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
| release_date = January 28, 2014
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| pages = 179 pages
| isbn = 9780345806871
| dewey =
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Dept. of Speculation is a 2014 novel by American author Jenny Offill. The novel received positive reviews, and has been compared to Offill's later work, Weather.
Composition and writing
Though not purely autobiographical, the novel draws from Offill's life.{{cite news |title=In Fragments Of A Marriage, Familiar Themes Get Experimental |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/01/26/265674275/in-fragments-of-a-marriage-familiar-themes-get-experimental |access-date=7 January 2021 |publisher=NPR |date=26 January 2014}} Offill has said Dept. of Speculation "[...] came from the ashes of another book". Dept. of Speculation eschews a typical plot, which Offill has said was deliberate.{{cite news |last1=Pieknik |first1=Matt |title=How Much Could Be Left Unsaid: An Interview with Jenny Offill |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/03/31/how-much-could-be-left-unsaid-an-interview-with-jenny-offill/ |access-date=7 January 2021 |work=The Paris Review |date=31 March 2014 |language=en}}
Reception
=Critical reception=
According to Book Marks, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on nineteen critic reviews: twelve "rave", three "positive", and four "mixed".{{Cite web |title=Dept. of Speculation|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/dept-of-speculation/|access-date=16 January 2024 |website=Book Marks}} Culture Critic assessed critical response as an aggregated score of 83% based on an accumulation of British and American press reviews.{{Cite web |title=Jenny Offill - Dept. of Speculation|url=http://www.culturecritic.co.uk/books/jenny-offill-dept-of-speculation/|access-date=12 July 2024|website=Culture Critic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121041933/http://www.culturecritic.co.uk:80/books/jenny-offill-dept-of-speculation/|archive-date=21 Jan 2015}}
The novel has been compared to Renata Adler's 1976 book Speedboat.{{cite magazine |last1=Wood |first1=James |title=Mother Courage |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/31/mother-courage-3 |access-date=7 January 2021 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=24 March 2014 |language=en-us}}{{cite news |last1=Gay |first1=Roxane |title=Bridled Vows (Published 2014) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/books/review/jenny-offills-dept-of-speculation.html |access-date=6 January 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=7 February 2014}} In her review of the book, published by NPR, Meg Wolitzer praised the novel as "[...] intriguing, beautifully written, sly and often profound".{{cite news |last1=Wolitzer |first1=Meg |title='Speculation' Shows Good Stories Come In Small Packages, Too |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/01/23/262480430/speculation-shows-good-stories-come-in-small-packages-too |access-date=7 January 2021 |work=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |date=23 January 2014 |language=en}} Wolitzer also praised the novel's humor.
Offill has said she did not anticipate the book's success.{{cite news |last1=Haas |first1=Lidija |title=Jenny Offill: life after Dept. of Speculation – the underdog persona's not going to fly any more |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/28/jenny-offill-dept-speculation-underdog-personas-not-going-to-fly-any-more-interview |access-date=7 January 2021 |work=the Guardian |date=28 February 2015 |language=en}}
=Honors=
Dept. of Speculation was shortlisted for 2015 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction,{{cite web |title=Announcing The 2015 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Winner {{!}} The PEN/Faulkner Foundation |url=https://www.penfaulkner.org/2015/04/07/announcing-the-2015-penfaulkner-award-for-fiction-winner/ |publisher=PEN/Faulkner Foundation |access-date=7 January 2021}} and the Folio Prize.{{cite news |last1=Piepenbring |first1=Dan |title=The 2015 Folio Prize Shortlist |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/02/09/the-2015-folio-prize-shortlist/ |access-date=7 January 2021 |work=The Paris Review |date=9 February 2015 |language=en}}
The novel was included on the New York Times' list of the best books of 2014.{{cite news |title=The 10 Best Books of 2014 (Published 2014) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/books/review/the-10-best-books-of-2014.html |access-date=7 January 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=4 December 2014}}
=Influence=
A passage in the novel influenced Rachel Yoder's novel Nightbitch.{{cite news |last1=Tyler |first1=J.A. |title=Ferocious and Violent: The Millions Interviews Rachel Yoder |url=https://themillions.com/2021/07/ferocious-and-violent-the-millions-interviews-rachel-yoder.html |access-date=30 August 2021 |work=The Millions |date=22 July 2021}}
References
{{reflist}}
Category:Novels set in New York City
Category:Alfred A. Knopf books
{{2010s-novel-stub}}