Stone Arabia

Stone Arabia (2011) by Dana Spiotta. This novel is a tour de force, a description of an artist named Nik Kranis as seen through the eyes of his younger sister Denise. Nik is not only a musician, he is a graphic artist and an autobiographer. He has scads of talent; what he doesn't have is commercial success. He keeps track of his own imaginary career through the Chronicles, a self-generated, encyclopedic record of everything he has produced. The Chronicles include "reviews" of his music written by major media critics (really written by Nik himself), "articles" about his bands (the Demonics and the Fakes), and "letters" written about him by his sister Denise. Nik is an archetype -- the artist who never finds fame, but who keeps toiling away in anonymity, producing his art for a small audience of friends and relatives. And this book is a one-step-removed record of that artist's life. Grade: A