E^{verything Bright and Extremely Close} by Jonathan Safran Foer. Houghton Mifflin, 368 pages, $24.95.

When Jonathan Safran Foer burst upon the literary scene in 2002 with his bestselling novel, Everything is Illuminated, he was immediately annointed as American literature's reigning "It boy." So, it was not exactly a surprise that publication of his follow-up novel, Everything Bright and Exremely Close is a literary event in its own right. That this book is the first major literary work to deal with 9/11 only adds to the intrigue. Intriguing, yes . . . until you read the book! Indeed, with his second offering, Foer may have shown us the limits of his talent: a prescious, often cloying odessey that prizes style over substance.

The story is told from the point of view of 9 year-old gifted kid, Oskar Schnell whose father, Thomas was killed on 9/11. Immediately, the reader is expected to bond with Oskar as the precocious child embarks on a journey across a sanitized and seemingly mythical New York to uncover the mystery of a key he finds among his father's belongings.

Oskar is a problematic character for me. When an author chooses to tell this particular story from the POV of a 9 year-old child it may be a matter of necessity that the child be a genius, for what ordinary 9 year-old would have the vocabulary to convey this story? Yet, I never believed in Oskar as a character. His cutesy, chatty intelligence and disparate, unlikely interests undermined the story even as his existence serves the plot. Oskar seems more like a bad child actor from a failed sitcom than a flesh and blood person.

Oskar Schnell may be the least of what's wrong with this novel. This book also relies on a number of gimmicky visual aids to tell the story: Graphical tricks, blank pages, pop-ups, numerical codes, etc. The only thing missing is the 3D glasses and coupon for free popcorn! It's as if Foer and his editors didn't have faith that it was enough to tell a simple tale simply. Even Oskar's story isn't enough for the author. He introduces a parallel story about Oskar's grandfather, who abandoned his family years before for reasons that are not completely understandable. The parallel is not truly genuine and the book wouldn't have missed a beat if this tale had been excised from the novel entirely.

Foer is a remarkable stylist, so the book is readable. But the book isn't as profound as the author wants it to be. What we are left with is a barely adequate sophomoric effort from an author who may not be as talented as we were led to believe. It may be interesting to see how he repackages the same story and title in his next novel.

--Reviewed by JCE