Endling

[Bretnie]

Space to discuss the 2026 TOB contender Endling by Maria Reva.

[Gwendolyn]

I really liked this one. I read it awhile back because it was on the Booker longlist. It’s unique and complex. I expect this group will like this.

[Kat's]

I really enjoyed this one. I never thought I'd be invested in the fate of a snail! 🤣

[Erica]

Def my favorite of the long list and the short list so far.

[Joy D]

Loved this one!

[Audra]

One of my faves of the year, my fave of the shortie that I've read so far.

[Bretnie]

Ahhhh so good! I'll save all my thoughts til March, but I'm really happy the TOB introduced me to this book.

[Kip]

https://lithub.com/how-one-snail-insp...

[Katherine]

Kip wrote: "https://lithub.com/how-one-snail-insp..."

Thank you for sharing this link--loved it!

[Paul]

I loved this book last year, easily one of my favourites of the year. it also mentions three other books in it, including one of my other very weird favourites - People Of Paper, which I love so much. so I bought/read the other two - Asymmetry, which was good, and Barn 8 which was great. so that was a nice added bonus.
Her interlinked short story collection is pretty good too.

[Bretnie]

Kip thank you for sharing the article! It’s incredible!

[Kip]

Yes I meant to type more words with sending the article but must have just forgotten, I think it was my favorite thing on Lithub last year which is saying a lot!

[Audra]

Thank you for this!
Man, I think about Endling almost every day.

[McKenzie]

I just got to the Acknowledgments section and am joyously baffled and amazed. Endling just shot to the top of my favorites from this year’s list.

[Bretnie]

McKenzie wrote: "I just got to the Acknowledgments section and am joyously baffled and amazed. Endling just shot to the top of my favorites from this year’s list."

The one at the end or the one the middle? I LOVED the talk about the font in the middle of the book. :)

[McKenzie]

The middle!

[Daniel]

Finished this on the beach in Tel Aviv last week as the sun was going down. I thought it was outstanding. Metafiction that worked as a melding of style and content. Seeing the author wrestling with the notion of whether it is even moral to produce art from conflict reminded me of Martin Amis's book Time's Arrow and Joshua Sobol's play Ghetto which I saw 30 years ago at the National Theatre in London. Anything that beats this will have to be very special.

[Daniel]

Kip wrote: "https://lithub.com/how-one-snail-insp..."

Amazing. Thanks so much for surfacing this interview. What a delight.

[Kyle]

The acknowledgements section in the middle was probably my favorite part, it made me chuckle.

[Laura]

I just finished this book and it is my favorite of the TOB books I have read so far! I liked the unique structure with the authorial interruptions. I felt that provided a deeper sense of the disruption and surrealism of conflict. The middle section made me wonder what was going on, why someone would do this, and I didn't like the disoriented feeling it gave me, much as someone in a country being invaded might feel.

[Audra]

Laura wrote: "I just finished this book and it is my favorite of the TOB books I have read so far! I liked the unique structure with the authorial interruptions. I felt that provided a deeper sense of the disrup..."

Agree, I think she did a great job with this. Fave book of the TOB and in the top 5 of what I read last year.

[Nadine in California]

Audra wrote: "Laura wrote: "I just finished this book and it is my favorite of the TOB books I have read so far! I liked the unique structure with the authorial interruptions. I felt that provided a deeper sense..."

Me three :)