Something New Under the Sun
By Alexandra Kleeman
In the year of 2023, in the city of Seattle, I rarely reach for a plastic water bottle at the convenience store. I’ve got about ten Nalgene bottles scattered about my apartment, in my car, at work, and any time I run out of water I just go to the tap for a refill. I always have to remind myself in other states that their water may be… harder than what I am used to, and without a filter on hand, the plastic water bottles destroying our planet may actually be the best thing for me personally. In Alexandra Kleeman’s new novel, Something New Under the Sun, it doesn’t matter whether the plastic water bottles are better for you or not, they’re all you have to drink.
The book begins with the dramatic struggle of writer, actors, and producers all trying to make a movie, despite the other artists in the room getting in their way. The book broadens to include the family of Patrick Hamlin, the author of the book the film is based on. Former starlet Cassidy Carter becomes more of a main character and less of a plot point, her past deepening Patrick’s investment in the film and his presence in LA. Kleeman unravels threads to explore wild conspiracies within the immediate plot of her novel, stretching valid reasoning into the darker corners of possibility. At one point Patrick is reading blog posts about Cassidy’s childhood TV show and how it could be a secret shadow message of things going on in the real world from some organization pulling the strings of society. As the pressure of the interpersonal begins to reach an uncontainable level, an ecological terror emerges, revealing the true danger leaking into the lives of not just the characters, but for everyone it would touch. Kleeman does such wonderful work with ominous, creeping dread. When there’s light at the end of the tunnel or some sort of solution in sight, she plunges her story into an even greater conspiracy. One that is felt outside of the pages of the novel, in our world of slowly rising temperatures and ever present micro plastics.
I loved the many plots of Something New Under the Sun but more than their tangled webs, I keep thinking of the visceral language Kleeman writes on every page. The way she describes a 90’s TV show and accompanying internet forum feels pulled straight from some conspiracy reddit you could fall into if not careful. The explosion of WAT-R bottles and branding of the company that has made itself necessary for survival, spikes terror in my veins whenever I read some news out of Silicon Valley for their solutions to the climate crisis. Like the gray suited man or her unique clouds, Alexandra Kleeman’s words have creeped their way into the corners of my mind and occur to me as passing thoughts like something I heard on the news the night before. A good book sticks with you, and this one has been haunting me.