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A Novelist's Review of the State of 2022 Literary Fiction

Posted by Cybil on December 6, 2022

Mateo Askaripour is a Brooklyn-based writer whose first novel, Black Buck—which Colson Whitehead calls a “mesmerizing novel, executing a high wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy”—was an instant New York Times bestseller and both longlisted and shortlisted for numerous awards. Mateo was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly’s “10 rising stars to make waves,” and TODAY show host Jenna Bush selected Black Buck for her Read With Jenna book club. These days, Mateo's hard at work on his second novel, other projects, and doing his best to pay it forward.

We asked him to share his 2022 year in reading. Check out what he loved this year and what he's looking forward to in 2022!

Goodreads: What are some trends or themes you are noticing in fiction this year?

Mateo Askaripour: Whew, there’s so much going on. First, let’s get this out of the way: People are still publishing boundary-pushing fiction. I’ll discuss some of the books I’ve read this year that made me go, “DAMN!” below, but this is what’s been occupying my mind lately:

Conversations about representation
Book-to-screen adaptations
Colleen Hoover

The first is in regard to two articles that came out over the last month. One, in the New York Times Magazine, which argues that, among other points, to write about Black people in the context of being the only one, or one of few, in majority-white environments, is a trap that Black writers find themselves in often.

While the writer makes a few valid observations, what I fear about a piece like this is that it’ll drive many would-be writers, who want to excavate their own experiences, to remain silent for fear of falling into a “trap,” when people need to tell and read these stories. With this said, I do understand the desire for literature written by writers from historically marginalized backgrounds to not adhere to one trope of trauma, and they don’t. Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell is a recent novel that comes to mind, which I’ll discuss further below.

As we’ve seen over the years, Hollywood is craving literature to adapt, and this yearning is only increasing. Just a few weeks ago, it was announced that Hulu gave a series order to Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown and Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl (it’s already shooting). Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson was ordered straight to series in September 2021, and you can see the many other pilots and series orders, made just by Hulu, here.

This is especially exciting for me, since I’ve been moving through Hollywood for the last few years, learning the ins and outs, and coming to terms with what it means to be an author with agency. Producers often like to sideline authors, which is why Charles Yu being the showrunner of his own show is inspiring, though, to be fair, he’s a Hollywood veteran.

Colleen Hoover. Yes, she’s dominating the New York Times bestseller list. Just this October, she had six (SIX!) books on the New York Times paperback bestseller list, which caused a slew of articles—trying to figure out how in the hell this happened, and who the hell she is—to break out like a bad rash. To be honest, I love the hysteria. Do I love that some outlets disproportionately prop up some authors and not others, especially when it comes to Black and brown writers? No. But Colleen Hoover is an industry outsider who has charted her own path, on her own terms, and I respect that.

GR: Who are some new and exciting authors you discovered in 2022?

MA: Let’s start with Joseph Han. I was fortunate enough to receive an early copy of his book, Nuclear Family, to review for the New York Times Book Review, and it truly blew my mind. As I wrote there, “You’d have to visit Cirque du Soleil to see someone juggle as much as Han with such effortless dexterity and tenderness. Generational trauma, the American dream, the consequences of conquest. And his prose is rhythmic and hypnotic; it captivates from the very first page and gracefully conveys the loss and the longing the family experiences.”

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery is another work of fiction that knocked the air out of my lungs this year, in a good way. This linked collection of short stories—centering on Jamaican immigrants and their children, mostly set in Miami, but also in the Midwest and Jamaica—tackles everything from father-son relationships, to the funhouse mirror madness of identity, to homelessness, to capitalism, and so much more with humor, heart, and an unflinching eye for all that makes us human.

I’d brought up Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell above, and I can’t and won’t stop talking about it. You know, a lot of people think jazz died along with Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, Miles Davis, and other greats, but Laura’s debut novel proves those folks dead wrong. It features a handsome, philandering hulk of a man, Circus Palmer, who, at only 40, is starting to feel washed up. He didn’t become the big trumpeting hit he wanted, and he’s coming to terms with what it means to age as our dreams age with us.

But the brilliance of this book is that the majority of chapters focus on the women who intersect with Circus’ life, allowing us to hear their solos and learn their stories, which are vibrant, full of vigor, and make you want to get up and groove.

You can watch me recommend Laura’s book on TODAY, as well as four others, here.

GR: Looking ahead, what predictions do you have for fiction in 2023? And are there any 2023 titles you can’t wait to read?

MA: Peering into my literary crystal ball, I see more book-to-screen adaptations, Colleen Hoover continuing to lead the lists, and, of course, more groundbreaking fiction that makes you go, “This is why I read.” BookTok is bringing books back from the dead and also breathing more life into those that are already thriving, so I anticipate more publishing-BookTok partnerships.

But when it comes to the what of it all—what will most books spotlight—I have no idea, and I hope there’s no general consensus on themes. For example, if 50 books come out all concerned with the pandemic, a Kanye West-like character, or hyperinflation, that would be a loss. A handful wouldn’t be that bad, though. We need literature to continue serving as a mirror of our times.

As for 2023 titles, I’ve already read a couple and enjoyed Kevin Chong’s The Double Life of Benson Yu, which comes out in April 2023. What Kevin is doing with this book…the risks he’s taking…yes, I’m here for all of it.

Continuing to look forward, I can’t wait for Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s highly anticipated debut novel, Chain Gang All-Stars. A few others I have on my radar are: One Summer in Savannah by Terah Harris, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa by Stephen Buoro, and Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu.

GR: What were some of your favorite 2022 books?

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs
by Sidik Fofana

You ever just want to read stories that reflect the everyday person, but in a way that makes the ordinary seem extraordinary? If you answered that with a “yes," then this debut collection is for you. Sidik Fofana captures the captivating lives of tenants in one New York building, the Banneker Homes, writing in a way that will make your jaw drop, your heart stop, and maybe even make you want to dance a little bit.

The Scent of Burnt Flowers
by Blitz Bazawule

Vivid color, that’s what I see when I think of this fast-paced novel full of love, fear, and music. It’s about two Americans who flee to Ghana, eventually seeking the help of the country’s first prime minister and president, Kwame Nkrumah, while befriending a charismatic Highlife musician and getting into a ton of shenanigans. Sparks fly, the supernatural makes an appearance, and it’s one of those books that you’ll breeze through in a day or two.

With Your Bad Self
by Kerika Fields

I couldn’t love this book more if I tried! Kerika Fields Nalty’s debut novella, set during World War II, centers on Marie, a young woman whose mother says she can’t be with the man she loves. He goes off to serve in the war, and another man enters the scene. Does Marie wait for her lover, or does she build a new life with this new man? Well, you have to read it. Kerika’s words are truly transporting, putting you in the room as Marie’s mother makes her devastating declaration to the point that you feel her hurt, her pain, and also her power as she charts a new path forward.

If I Survive You
by Jonathan Escoffery

This debut collection by Jonathan Escoferry will put you in your feels and keep you there from beginning to end. There’s one story where the main character, Trelawny, responds to a…let’s say strange Craigslist ad in order to escape homelessness. Another where a young man, Cukie, develops a relationship with his neglectful father, teaching him critical life lessons in a way that’ll turn you to mush. Each story is bursting with originality and gives the impression that Escoffery has a keen sense for why we do the things we do. He even brings us to Jamaica, helping us to better understand how the fruits of the present are born from the roots of the past.

Sea of Tranquility
by Emily St. John Mandel

This was my first foray into the world-splitting work of Emily St. John Mandel, and it won’t be my last! I’m still trying to figure out how she does so much in so few pages. This novel, her sixth, moves from 1918 all the way to 2195, giving you threads of characters who are each striving for something and then beautifully weaves them together, pulling you deeper and deeper into the narrative that questions memory, time, and reality itself. I know, that’s a bit vague, but you just have to read it.

GR: And what are some backlist books you think readers should pick up now?

One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel García Márquez

As someone who’s wary of what’s considered “canon,” I am still making my way through works that are often considered classics, and One Hundred Years of Solitude is an example of this. After having it on my shelf for a while, I said, “OK, let’s see what the noise is all about,” and, wow, wow, wow. Pulling from his own childhood and creating an epic narrative that will undoubtedly still be read in 100 years, Márquez tells the story of a fictional town, called Macondo, from its inception to its destruction. If there was ever a book to make you believe that certain writers are anointed, this is it.

Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri

Another book I’ve had on my shelf for years! And I am so glad I picked it up when I did, to appreciate it and all of its greatness. This Pulitzer Prize–winning collection depicts the lives of Indians and Indian Americans who are all just trying to survive life and the daily ups and downs that come with it. They will break you down, build you up, and break you again while illustrating the sheer humanity in and all around us.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January
by Alix E. Harrow

If you’re in search of a journey full of wild twists and turns, look no further, this is the book for you. A young woman, January, becomes an orphan and becomes the ward of Mr. Locke, a wealthy man with a large house and everything January could ever want…minus her father, adventure, and being treated as an individual rather than a stereotypical young woman. That is, until the power of her words causes worlds to unfold right before her eyes and…yeah, you’re just going to have to read it.

If Beale Street Could Talk
by James Baldwin

Yes, there’s an Academy Award–winning film adaptation that I highly recommend. But before the film came this novel, which is about two lovers, recently engaged and living in New York City, who get caught up in tragic circumstances—really, the way life can bring you low when you’re riding a high—and how they have to do all they can to claw a way forward, together. Your heart will be warmed by how the novel reaffirms love’s existence, but it will be sobered by how it depicts the conditions that love is forced to survive in and the ways in which we cling to one another in times of chaos.

A Different Drummer
by William Melvin Kelley

This is a book that I will never, ever stop recommending. Written by William Melvin Kelley at the ripe age of 24, A Different Drummer tells the tale of Tucker Caliban, a young Black Southern farmer. One day, Tucker ruins his fields, burns his house down, and kills all of his animals before leaving for who knows where. The rest of the Black people in this town follow him, leaving the other residents to question what in the HELL is going on? It’s a story of what it means to march to the beat of “a different drummer,” as Henry David Thoreau writes in Walden. Without a doubt, William Melvin Kelley is one of the most inventive, daring, and courageous writers of the 20th century, and this debut novel proves it.

Tell us about your reading in 2021. What books did you love best? Share them with us in the comments below!