Review of a Novel Michael Schaub on Ling Ma’s Severance (NPR)

The great thing about Schaub’s reviews is they feel less like prose and more like having a conversation with Schaub over a plate of Austin barbecue. His review of Ma’s debut (which also happens to be one of my favorite novels of the year) begins with a brilliant connection between post-apocalyptic fiction and personal essays about “Why I’m Leaving New York”:

“Severance is the kind of satire that induces winces rather than laughs, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining—Ma exhibits an admirable restraint throughout the novel, never giving in to tired clichés or overwrought sermonizing. It’s a stunning, audacious book with a fresh take on both office politics and what the apocalypse might bring: This is the way the world ends, Ma seems to be saying, not with a bang but a memo.”