Necessary Errors

Prague. Jacob Putnam, the protagonist of Caleb Crain’s debut novel, Necessary Errors, arrives in Prague in 1990. Jacob is on the brink of adulthood, and the city is ready for transformation from communism to capitalism. Crain lets readers slowly enter into the everyday nature of what life is like for Jacob at that time and in that place. While at times I became bored by the minutiae of the exposition, I always came back to the sense that I was seeing the situation unfold as would any newcomer to an unfamiliar setting. Over the course of the novel, both Jacob and the city both seem to be getting more of what they want. Readers who enjoy literary fiction and who can tolerate a lot of reading about “nothing” are those most likely to enjoy this finely written novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Necessary Errors from amazon.com.