Lethargic lit professor Samuel Andresen-Anderson spends most of his time playing fantasy video games 鈥 that is, until his mother suddenly becomes infamous, accused of throwing rocks at a conservative Republican governor. Nathan Hill鈥檚 debut novel about an adult鈥檚 attempt to unravel his mother鈥檚 complicated past is funny, touching, and compulsively readable. (CSMonitor.com review, 9/29/16)