Generation Loss (novel)
{{Short description|2007 novel by Elizabeth Hand}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{No plot|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Generation Loss
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Generation Loss.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = Elizabeth Hand
| illustrator =
| cover_artist = Jacob McMurray
| country = United States
| language = English
| subject =
| genre =
| publisher = Small Beer Press
| release_date = 2007
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
| pages = 300
| isbn = 978-0-156-03134-9
| dewey =
| congress =
| oclc =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
Generation Loss is a 2007 novel by American writer Elizabeth Hand.
Reception
Generation Loss was generally well received by critics, including a starred review from Booklist and Publishers Weekly.{{Cite web |date=2007-02-19 |title=Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781931520218 |access-date=2023-07-17 |website=Publishers Weekly}}
Booklist
Describing the novel, Publishers Weekly wrote about how Hand "explores the narrow boundary between artistic genius and madness in this gritty, profoundly unsettling literary thriller." In addition to other praise, they noted that "the novel's final chapters [...] are a terror tour-de-force that testify to the power of great fiction to disturb and provoke."
The Washington Post
A few reviewers commented on the writing style and genre conventions. Pitt highlighted how the novel "veers off in a new and exciting direction [from science fiction], drawing on but going well beyond the crime genre." Graham Joyce, writing for The Washington Post, noted, "Generation Loss is a crossover novel, difficult to classify, uncomfortable, spiky. Hand is one of those writers who has challenged the restrictions of genre writing. Here, she both fights with and against the conventions of the thriller genre to get at an evil deeper than its mere perpetrator. [...] So although Generation Loss moves like a thriller, it detonates with greater resound. It's a dark and beautiful novel that should not be read by anyone under the age of 30."{{Cite news |last=Joyce |first=Graham |date=2007-05-06 |title=Road to Ruin |language=en-US |work=The Washington Post |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050301965.html |access-date=2023-07-17 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=2017-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414032257/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050301965.html |url-status=live }}
Awards
Generation Loss won the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award.{{cite web |last=Hand |first=Elizabeth |date=2008-08-10 |title=Love Bites |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/07/AR2008080702528.html |access-date=2012-07-12 |work=The Washington Post |archive-date=2017-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220192530/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/07/AR2008080702528.html |url-status=live }} It was also shortlisted for the Believer Book Award.{{cite web |date=March–April 2008 |title=The Believer Book Award 2007 finalists |url=http://www.believermag.com/issues/200805/?read=believer_book_awards |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107112454/https://www.believermag.com/issues/200805/?read=believer_book_awards |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |access-date=March 6, 2014 |publisher=The Believer}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100604101811/http://bostonist.com/2007/05/21/elizabeth_hand_at_harvard_book_store.php Bostonist reviews the book]