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Akst gives readers another sharp and perceptive look at modern America as he deftly describes a community helpless in the face of mass hysteria and mass media.
Terry Mathers feels like a failure. His small-town weekly, The Webster Chronicle, is facing bankruptcy; he has separated from his wife; and his journalist father, Maury, is both the king of prime time and a magnet for younger women. Now in midlife, Terry's fed up with being disappointed---and disappointing.
But then Webster is shocked by an accusation of child abuse at the local, and highly esteemed, preschool. As the community grapples with rapidly escalating allegations, Terry seizes his chance to scoop the national media. His articles fan the flames of the growing crisis, and as the major news organizations descend, he struggles to maintain his professional judgment and ethics.
The Washington Post called Daniel Akst's first novel, St. Burl's Obituary, an "ingenious and thought-provoking . . . map of the contemporary world." With The Webster Chronicle, Akst gives readers another sharp and perceptive look at modern America, using as his backdrop a dark period in our country's early history. He deftly describes a community helpless in the face of mass hysteria and mass media, and guided by hapless, awkward Terry Mathers, who believes he's on a mission to save the children until he realizes, too late, that he's really only trying to save himself.
If you liked The Webster Chronicle, try these:
The Saints and Sinners of Okay County
by Dayna Dunbar
Published 2005
A funny and poignant first novel about a woman struggling to liberate herself in small-town America.
by Barbara D'Amato
Published 2003
McSweeny and his wife dearly love their adopted Russian son - but when medical tests indicate that the boy is not Russian they are plunged into the dark, complex world of international adoption. The results threaten to destroy their happiness - and their lives - as they explode a powder keg of political intrigue.
Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.
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