The End of Mr. Y

THE END OF MR. Y is final proof that Scarlett Thomas has left the "New Puritan" manifesto behind her: in 2000 she was part of the British collective of writers that pledged to write straight-forward realistic fiction, but in this novel Thomas embarks on a dizzying postmodern romp. Her protagonist, Ariel Manto, is a literature student well-versed in Derrida and Heidegger, and loves books as an escape from her dysfunctional life which includes an affair with a married professor. When she finds a rare text she discovers how to enter a dimension called the Troposphere which acts as a connection between people's consciousnesses. However there are people who don't want her to gain access to this new plane of existence, and before she knows it a building has collapsed and her thesis advisor has disappeared. Soon Thomas's heady novel has plunged into a twisting caper filled with semiotics, puns (including the title), and CIA spooks. The novel does a precarious balancing act between intellectualism and good old-fashioned thriller.