Pitch Dark

Back of the Book

“What’s new. What else. What next. What’s happened here.”

Pitch Dark is a book about love. Kate Ennis is poised at a critical moment in an affair with a married man. The complications and contradictions pursue her from a house in rural Connecticut to a brownstone apartment in New York City, to a small island off the coast of Washington, to a pitch black night in backcountry Ireland.

Composed in the style of Renata Adler’s celebrated novel Speedboat and displaying her keen journalist’s eye and mastery of language, both simple and sublime, Pitch Dark is a bold and astonishing work of art.

Why You Should Read It

Pitch Dark takes on Adler’s admirable enigma as it is mythologized in almost all the pieces written on her—but tones it down to a hum behind the writing, into something constant, buzzing and hypnotizing. A woman’s unravelling sense of linear progression at the end of a long affair, the mutilation of time, the seasons, and all the roads you take at the hands of love. Adler’s articulation of the time warp of the come down—winding, convoluted and adhesive to the emerging persona—is one that is relatable to anyone who has ever had to let go of true love, without much healing fanfare. Her luminous insights into the gnarled ways in which we allow ourselves to love are just as confrontational as the authoress herself is storied as being.

Memorable Passage

Is it always the same story, then? Somebody loves and somebody doesn't, or loves less, or loves someone else. Or someone is a good soul and someone a villain. And there are just these episodes, anecdotes, places, pauses, hailings of cabs, overcomings of obstacles, or instances of being overcome by them, illnesses, accidents, recoveries, wars, desires, welcomings, rebuffs, baskings (rare, not so long), pinings (more frequent, perhaps, and longer), actions, failures to act, hesitations, proliferations, endings of the line, until there is death. Well, no. I have a wonderful, fond memory, about love and trust and books.

About the Author

Renata Adler, born on October 19, 1938, is an American author, journalist, and critic whose uncompromising approach to storytelling and incisive commentary have established her as a distinctive voice in American literature. Best known for her novels Speedboat and Pitch Dark, Adler's narrative style, marked by fragmented and non-linear prose, defies traditional conventions and captures the dissonance and complexity of contemporary life. Beyond her fiction, Adler has had a distinguished career in journalism, contributing to publications such as The New Yorker and The New York Times. Her work often engages with cultural and political issues, showcasing a keen intellect and a commitment to questioning prevailing norms. Renata Adler is worth knowing for her fearless experimentation with form, her contribution to the intersection of fiction and journalism, and her ability to capture the spirit of an era with unparalleled insight and precision.

Further Reading

“Jump-Cuts” by Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
After the Tall Timber: Collected Nonfiction by Renata Adler