How Novellas Became Novels

Slim novels are all the rage these days. They used to be unpublishable.

This week I went to a book event for Henry Hoke’s Open Throat, a hilarious and moving novel about a queer mountain lion stalking the Hollywood hills. (Hoke and I grew up together in central Virginia, so I’m not unbiased—but you can read the rave reviews yourself.) There’s a lot I admired in Open Throat, but one thing that stands out is that it’s taut an…