8/10

A postmodern haunted house story, whose motivating concept is a house larger on the inside than the outside. The book is an ambitious work of creativity, labyrinths, and literary theory. The various puzzles and codes beg the reader to actively participate in deciphering the text, leaving them to take notes, hold it up to a mirror, and follow circular footnotes. The layered levels of narration can make certain parts of the book difficult to assess. For example, the running commentary by Johnny Truant seems a bit overwritten at times - Johnny is on the one hand not particularly well read and consistently makes mistakes such as writing "alot" rather than "a lot," but at other times writes esoteric poetry with highly obscure vocabulary. But is Johnny even supposed to be real or is he a literary device created by another narrorator (coded references to Zampano in Johnny's mother's letters suggest the latter (and of course all the narrators are literary devices of MZD))? So then can we say some parts are overwritten or are those intentionally done so for the sake of narratological tension? The book resists any such resolution - reminding one a bit of Nabokov or Borges, though still well shy of these masters' elegance. Over all the book is fun, creative, and at moments truly beautiful. Some stylistic quibbles aside, I'd recommend it to anyone looking something different and that enjoys trying to unravel all the ciphers that I have only begun to unpack (there is a big online forum of people doing the same). While it's not Shakespeare, Joyce's quote on those seeking secrets in the bard's work feels appropriate: "Shakespeare is the happy hunting ground of all minds that have lost their balance." MZD has created a playful labyrinth for literary obsessives well worth exploring.