The Maris Review, vol 63

Maris Kreizman

15 Jul 2025 — 4 min read

What I read this week

The Payback by Kashana Cauley

I have been a Kashana Cauley fan long before she started writing novels, so I'm thrilled to tell you that her second book captures exactly what I love about her: The Payback is very much aware of the darkness of the world, but even in that darkness there is room for bursts of unmitigated joy.

Jada is a former costume designer who starts the novel as a salesperson at a clothing shop in the Glendale mall. As a former denizen of the New Jersey suburbs, I love how Jada loves the mall: the smells, the colors, the people. Jada is a bit of a savant at matching people with statement outfits and it's so fun to watch her cook: "Everyone should have a look. A strong look. A look that told other people that they were not to be fucked with. Or simply a look that wouldn't work on someone else."

Still, Jada is riddled with student debt, the kind that is not containable by cutting back on lunchtime avocado toasts. When she loses her job, the debt police come for her. In the world of the book, the debt police are handsome, New Age-y automaton kind of dudes who have license to beat up and stalk and torment any debtor they want, but it's Black women who they tend to target the most. Perhaps this is near future sci-fi at its nearest?

Just when all hope appears to be lost, Jada teams up with her former mall co-workers, also burdened by debt and terrorized by the debt police, to plan a heist in which they will take down the loan company. Can the three women pull a Luigi Mangione kind of action without even murdering anybody? How delightful it is to watch them try.

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

One of my favorite summer reading novels ever is Beautiful Ruins. The vibes match the cover. It's escapist magic, a lush historical novel that satirizes how we perceive the glamor of Old Hollywood all while our current day hearts still dream of that perfect movie ending.

So Far Gone is summer-y in a different way: it's an action-packed picaresque whose hero Rhys Kinnick, a former Spokane reporter, has lived off the grid in an attempt to repudiate the godforsaken political landscape that has plagued America since Trump's first election. Kinnick's Walden-style retreat is interrupted when his grandchildren show up at his door one day. Their mom ran off, and their Christian militiaman father is useless. When a couple of their dad's militia bros kidnap his grandchildren, Rhys must rescue them and save their mom and make a lot of apologies to the people he left behind. It's up to Rhys to escape from escapism and come back into society, where phones and cars and tech and encounters with plenty of dumb and racist assholes are necessities for being available to and supportive of the people you love.

Notes from my tour

Me and Jamie Loftus at Skylight in Los Feliz, photo by Josh Gondelman

Over the past two weeks I've done seven book events all over the country. I feel like I've run several marathons even though my steps counter says otherwise. I also feel so invigorated. I love bookstores and I love people who love bookstores and it was a joy to check out of my social media feeds for a while and look at the IRL people and the IRL books that were right in front of me. It also felt like my publisher paid for me to travel to see friends I haven't seen in ages, and what could be better than that? I saw three former college roommates in three different cities.

Here's what I did: I chose 5 light floral dresses to take with me in a carry-on (thank goodness my tour was in July) so that for each stop I'd have something bright and cheery to wear as I talked about burning shit down. How life affirming, to laugh a lot while talking about all of the ways that institutions I was taught to revere have disappointed me. Dammit, it's here where I have to admit that I'm way more positive than I'd like to admit. I've always loved to see myself as your prototypical Fiona Apple "Sullen Girl," but in middle age, perhaps with the very good influence of my Stay Positive husband, I am more of a cheerleader. Maybe it's just about choosing to fight for the good things. I hope amplifying books I love is one way to do that. (There's a Recommended Reading list at the end of my book, of course.)