(editorial review)
Oikos accurately captures the woe of everyday life for a generation without a common gripe. Lamb should not be seen as one person but as a composite image of every man born between 1982 and 1989: mostly distant, lost, and wondering what our parents had that we do not. This novella could, through one darker prism, be seen as a letter in response to the American dream handed down to us by parents whose Great Cold War disallowed them the ability to think straight and so drove us willy-nilly into more than one real war. It could be seen as a laundry listing of emotions experienced by anyone trapped in a cooling romance. However it is seen, Oikos' craft garners a certain respect for accurate description, and that is enough reason to rank it among the better novellas of the new decade.
