Few contemporary writers have been anointed with as much praise as Junot Díaz. Since 1996, when he first burst onto the literary scene and was immediately exalted as a promising upstart with a distinctive voice, Mr. Díaz has been the darling of the literary mainstream, a recognition that has earned him induction into the pages of The New Yorker and into the Pulitzer Prize board from which he received his very own trophy in 2008.
The world as we know it is ending. Earth’s rotations have slowed, and the disastrous implications of what society refers to as “the slowing” begin to become clear. Days grow longer first by minutes, then hours, then days and weeks. The government urges people to adhere to “clock time,” now based only on tradition instead of sunlight. Subtle shifts in gravity and circadian rhythms alter peoples’ health as changes in the atmosphere and weather bring natural disasters and crop crises. This is the premise of Karen Thompson Walker’s “The Age of Miracles.”
