A beautiful portrait of life in New York -- yes, after 9/11, but this book is not about 9/11. Our narrator, Hans, is not-quite-Nick-Carroway, relates the events leading up to the death of his friend, a Trinidadian immigrant, cricket-loving, Brooklyn transplant and Gatsby stand-in, Chuck Ramkissoon. And while much has been made of how Netherland is about cricket, cricket is simply a part of the story, not the story. I don't know anything about cricket and I didn't have a problem with it's role. Yes, it has meaning, but like it is not about 9/11, it is not about cricket. Netherland explores the simplest and most complicated of themes, finding and having the balls to accept the meaning of your rather ordinary life. The you here happens to be a cricket-playing Dutchman by way of London who has settled, for the time, in New York during and after the events of September 11, 2001, and thus these things have implications on the meaning of his life.

Most of all, small things like commenting on how in New York it's allowed and even expected that guests will scrutinize every aspect of your apartment. It's some sort of only New York privilege to judge and compare real estate. O'Neill does a magnificent job of capturing the city and the book is worth reading simply for that accomplishment. It's a well-composed and interesting story. Plus I like the cover.