I recently read Project X by Jim Shepard and thought it an amazing novel. He also has a new collection of short stories available, called Love and Hydrogen. Maud Newton points out today that the Village Voice reviews his book here and Salon reviews it here. And several weeks ago, the NYT reviewed it here. I am putting all of these links here, because I want more people to read these books. I thought Project X was amazing. Shepard wrote the main character Edwin Hanratty with so much insight, but the character was not too overdeveloped either. He seemed just like a thirteen year old kid, a pretty unpopular one at that. Its easy to see why no one can figure out this kid, but at the same time, you find yourself seeing glimmers of a good and likeable person in there. The dialogue is sparse, but clear. There is a lot of space in his writing as well. Now I want to go read all of his other works.