{"id":96114,"date":"2016-03-25T12:23:40","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T16:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=96114"},"modified":"2016-03-25T13:33:14","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T17:33:14","slug":"poignant-comic-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Poignant Comic Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

All illustrations by Jason Novak.<\/p><\/div>\n

As Paris Review<\/em> subscribers know, every once in a while we serialize a novel. That is, we publish it in sections, usually over the course of a year, with recaps to bring new readers up to date. And we hire the best illustrators we can find\u2014a stable that has included Tom Keogh<\/a>, Leanne Shapton<\/a>, Samantha Hahn<\/a>, and a young \u201cAndrew\u201d Warhol.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past five years, we\u2019ve brought you a lost work by Roberto Bola\u00f1o<\/a>, a breakout novel by Rachel Cusk<\/a>, and, most recently, the winner of this year\u2019s Terry Southern Prize for Humor\u2014a football novel for people who don\u2019t know the rules\u2014The Throwback Special<\/a><\/em>, by Chris Bachelder, with illustrations by\u00a0Jason Novak<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This month,\u00a0The Throwback Special<\/em> came out in hardcover<\/a>\u2014and the crowd, as they say, went wild. The Minneapolis Star Tribune<\/em> calls it \u201c2016\u2019s first Great Book \u2026 A wise, patient examination of American culture<\/a>.\u201d The Los Angeles Times<\/em> praises its \u201cpoignant comic magic … powerful, intelligent, and entertaining<\/a>.\u201d And now\u00a0the\u00a0New York Times Book Review<\/em> has weighed in: \u201cWistful and elegantly written … The Throwback Special\u00a0<\/em>conjures the rewarding melancholy of Richard Ford\u2019s Frank Bascombe novels<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss the next great book of 2016, or years to come\u2014subscribe now<\/a>!\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Paris Review subscribers know, every once in a while we serialize a novel. That is, we publish it in sections, usually over the course of a year, with recaps to bring new readers up to date. And we hire the best illustrators we can find\u2014a stable that has included Tom Keogh, Leanne Shapton, Samantha […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2559],"tags":[18315,21670,2783,18161,19207,20341,21347,12090,747,1150,477,17520,19524],"class_list":["post-96114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin","tag-chris-bachelder","tag-comic-novels","tag-illustrations","tag-issue-213","tag-issue-214","tag-issue-215","tag-issue-216","tag-jason-novak","tag-novels","tag-praise","tag-reviews","tag-serialization","tag-the-throwback-special"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cThe Throwback Special\u201d Is \u201c2016\u2019s First Great Book\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You read it here first.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poignant Comic Magic by Lorin Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 25, 2016 \u2013 As Paris Review subscribers know, every once in a while we serialize a novel. That is, we publish it in sections, usually over the course of a year, with\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-25T16:23:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-25T17:33:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"684\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"568\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lorin Stein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lorin Stein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lorin Stein\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd66e9829fecb87371ce574d778e34b\"},\"headline\":\"Poignant Comic Magic\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-25T16:23:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-25T17:33:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/\"},\"wordCount\":226,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Chris Bachelder\",\"comic novels\",\"illustrations\",\"Issue 213\",\"issue 214\",\"Issue 215\",\"Issue 216\",\"jason novak\",\"novels\",\"praise\",\"reviews\",\"Serialization\",\"the Throwback Special\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bulletin\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cThe Throwback Special\u201d Is \u201c2016\u2019s First Great Book\u201d\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-25T16:23:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-25T17:33:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"You read it here first.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Poignant Comic Magic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd66e9829fecb87371ce574d778e34b\",\"name\":\"Lorin Stein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/336124c76cd6e539d4400e8b6c72da18130705594d9fe99e18f431d949440f1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/336124c76cd6e539d4400e8b6c72da18130705594d9fe99e18f431d949440f1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lorin Stein\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/lstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cThe Throwback Special\u201d Is \u201c2016\u2019s First Great Book\u201d","description":"You read it here first.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Poignant Comic Magic by Lorin Stein","og_description":"March 25, 2016 \u2013 As Paris Review subscribers know, every once in a while we serialize a novel. That is, we publish it in sections, usually over the course of a year, with","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2016-03-25T16:23:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-25T17:33:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":684,"height":568,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Lorin Stein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lorin Stein","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/"},"author":{"name":"Lorin Stein","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd66e9829fecb87371ce574d778e34b"},"headline":"Poignant Comic Magic","datePublished":"2016-03-25T16:23:40+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-25T17:33:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/"},"wordCount":226,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png","keywords":["Chris Bachelder","comic novels","illustrations","Issue 213","issue 214","Issue 215","Issue 216","jason novak","novels","praise","reviews","Serialization","the Throwback Special"],"articleSection":["Bulletin"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/","name":"\u201cThe Throwback Special\u201d Is \u201c2016\u2019s First Great Book\u201d","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png","datePublished":"2016-03-25T16:23:40+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-25T17:33:14+00:00","description":"You read it here first.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/novakbachelder2.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/25\/poignant-comic-magic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Poignant Comic Magic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd66e9829fecb87371ce574d778e34b","name":"Lorin Stein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/336124c76cd6e539d4400e8b6c72da18130705594d9fe99e18f431d949440f1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/336124c76cd6e539d4400e8b6c72da18130705594d9fe99e18f431d949440f1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lorin Stein"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/lstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96114"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96134,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96114\/revisions\/96134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}