FKA USA

Reed KingΓÇÖs amazingly audacious novel is something of a cross between L. Frank BaumΓÇÖs The Wizard of Oz,Douglas AdamsΓÇÖs A HitchhikerΓÇÖs Guide to the GalaxyCormac McCarthyΓÇÖs The Roadand Ernie ClineΓÇÖs Ready Player One. In Reed KingΓÇÖs wildly imaginative and possibly prescient debutthe United States has dissolved in the wake of environmental disasters and the catastrophic policies of its final president. It is 2085and Truckee Wallacea factory worker in Crunchtown 407 (formerly Little RockArkansasbefore the secessions)has no grand ambitions besides maybepossiblylosing his virginity someday. But when Truckee is thrust unexpectedly into the spotlight he is tapped by the President for a sensitive political mission: to deliver a talking goat across the continent. The fate of the world depends upon it. The problem isΓÇöTruckeeΓÇÖs not sure itΓÇÖs worth it. Joined on the road by an android who wants to be human and a former convict lobotomized in TexasTruckee will navigate an environmentally depleted and lawless continent with devastatingΓÇöand hilariousΓÇöparallels to our owndodging body pickers and Elvis-worshippers and logo girlsbody subbersand VR addicts. Elvis-willinghe may even lose his virginity. FKA USA is the epic novel weΓÇÖve all been waiting for about the American end of timeswith its unavoidable sense of being on the wrong end of the roller coaster ride. It is a masterwork of ambitionhumorand satire with the power to make us crydespairand laugh out loud all at once. It is a tour de force unlike anything else you will read this year.