People Magazine, 10/16/17
“A lush historical novel packing the power of a riptide. Book of the Week.”
Reviews
Time Magazine, 10/05/17
“Though the prose is exquisite, Egan never lets it get in the way of the story. In bouts of glamour, adventure and violence, she gives the narrative a cinematic feel, while grounding it in Anna’s realistic frustrations with society… Readers of today will find her story of daring and persistence deeply resonant.”
Daily Mail, 10/05/17
“Egan isn’t shy about sharing her research and a lesser book might have been capsized by its weight; here, the detail serves only to deepen and enrich. Mystery novels, thinks Anna, are unsatisfying in part because they take place ‘in a single realm’ only. The genius of this book is that Egan successfully plumbs so many.”
National Post, 10/04/17
“Manhattan Beach opens with a quote from Moby-Dick: “Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.” And like Melville’s great novel, which can teach you everything you may wish to know about 19th-century whaling and cetology, Manhattan Beach itself plumbs the inky depths of midcentury diving, detailing the exhaustion, the danger and the exhilaration in equal measure. Water is like a metronome keeping the beat in this time- and perspective-shifting novel.”
New York Times, 10/03/17
“This is a novel that deserves to join the canon of New York stories.”
The Irish Times, 10/07/17
“To find a compelling story well told, one that is full of complex characters and sentences so luminous they stop you in your tracks, is one of literature’s greatest pleasures. That pleasure is bestowed liberally by Jennifer Egan in Manhattan Beach.”
Bookseller (U.K.)
“One of the most dazzling novelists writing today.”
Sunday Business Post (U.K.)
“Egan is a remarkable author, and this book is one of the most anticipated this year.”
Stylist (U.K.), 08/25/17
“2017’s Most Anticipated Book’ ‘… it‘s one that will suck you into its orbit and remind you just why it is you love reading. It seems there’s little Egan can’t turn her hand to.”
Woman & Home (U.K.)
“Thoroughly realized characters, an involving plot – a triumphant achievement.”
Tatler (U.K.)
“Rich in historical detail, full of seductive characters and teeming with human incident, Manhattan Beach proves once again what a gifted storyteller Egan is … Manhattan Beach is an enthralling mystery tale.”
Daily Mail (U.K.), 10/23/17
“Egan’s first foray into historical fiction, this is a more conventional book than her fans might expect, but it’s as darkly immersive an experience as Anna’s dives.”
Grazia, 10/02/17
“Organized crime, the class system and a transformative moment in history are skillfully rolled up in this masterful novel.”
Refinery 29, 08/01/17
“A literary thriller with noir verve that takes you back to an era when men went off to war and women went to work.”
Vogue, 10/03/17
“What to read this Autumn”
KMUW, 10/2/17
“If you need to love a character to love the book, don’t hesitate to dive headfirst into Manhattan Beach by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan. Egan’s protagonist is tender, ambitious, confused, loving, brave and determined. If you need to love sentence after well crafted sentence you can surf endlessly on the fluid language of Manhattan Beach. If you need a page turning plot you will sail the gale winds of Manhattan Beach. Jennifer Egan is an artist of the highest form.”
USA Today, 10/2/17
“Egan has every gift a writer can possess, and like all of her work Manhattan Beach is radiant with intelligence, special simply because it’s by her.”
Chicago Tribune, 10/2/17
‘”Manhattan Beach” is a historical novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “A Visit From the Goon Squad.” Its “old-fashioned” emphasis on seamless plot and complex characters feels shockingly, and reassuringly, new… Egan builds her story with the countless particulars of her chosen era — America at war, Americans at nightclubs, gangsters and sailors and union workers all fighting for a slice of a diminished post-Depression pie.”
Library Journal (starred review)
“This large, ambitious novel shows Egan at the top of her game. Anna is a true feminist heroine, and her grit and tenacity will make readers root for her.”
Vanity Fair, 10/01/17
“Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan makes her maiden deep dive into historical fiction with the vivid Manhattan Beach.”
The Jackal Magazine (UK), 10/01/17
“The novel of the moment.”
Mail on Sunday (UK), 10/1/17
“Egan’s first foray into historical fiction, this is a more conventional book than her fans might expect, but it’s as darkly immersive an experience.”
Book Forum, 10/1/17
“Manhattan Beach is a fleet, sinuous epic, abounding with evocative details, felicitous metaphors, and crystalline historical assessments . . . [and] magnificently captures this country on the brink of triumph and triumphalism.”
Bustle, 1o/1/17
This is Egan’s first novel since her wildly successful A Visit from the Goon Squad, and she’s hit it out of the park again.
Milwaukee Journal Senteniel, 09/29/17
“..It’s no surprise to see this restless shape-shifter — each of whose four preceding novels tried something new — go old school in “Manhattan Beach,” featuring the sort of smart but constricted Victorian heroine one finds when reading George Eliot.”