From the Empirical Archives: Swamplandia!

Swamplandia! A review of Karen Russell’s new novel Swamplandia! (Knopf, 2011)

Carrie Wasinger

PHOTO: Daniel Oines

The economy must be improving. The kiosks near the registers of my local Barnes and Noble are once again resplendent with useless do-dads designed to sit on a desk and look pretty. During a recent visit, I lost twenty valuable minutes to those dastardly kiosks, mesmerized by a small set of scented candles, lined up in a row, each a different color, each author-themed.