Waxwings — Jonathan Raban

From the bestselling, award-winning author of Bad Land comes a powerful novel set in Seattle in 1999, a city troubled by rioting anarchists, vanishing children, and the discovery of an al-Qaeda operative. 

“A tour de force.” -- The Washington Post Book World

Jonathan Raban's powerful novel is set in Seattle at the height of its infatuation with the virtual. It's a place that attracts immigrants. One of these is Tom Janeway, a bookish Hungarian-born Englishman who makes his living commenting on American mores on NPR. Another, who calls himself Chick, is a frenetically industrious illegal alien from China who makes his living any way he can.

Through a series of extraordinary but chillingly plausible events, the paths of these newcomers converge. Tom is uprooted from his marriage and must learn to father his endearing eight-year old son part-time. Chick claws his way up from exploited to exploiter. Meanwhile Seattle is a city on the brink. Savage and tender, visionary and addictively entertaining, Waxwings is a major achievement.