"Fourteen Days," edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston

Although many people feel that we are now beyond the COVID pandemic, it is still with us, and there are an increasing number of novels about it. "Fourteen Days" (Harper, 2024) describes the first two weeks after the lockdown was declared in New York City in March 2020. The unusual thing about the book -- besides the topic -- is that it is subtitled "A Collaborative Novel" and is co-authored by 36 prominent writers, such as Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, Dave Eggers, Ishmael Reed, Scott Turow, and Meg Wolitzer (and edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston), and that the individual pieces/chapters do not reveal which was written by which author (although one can find this information in the back of the book). The premise of the book is that the residents of a rundown apartment building start to gather on the rooftop, the only place they can get fresh air while socially distancing. Gradually, these characters start telling stories, some eagerly and some reluctantly, about very different topics at different time periods and in very different styles. The effect is to draw the residents together, although many are still wary of each other. The stories are almost all very compelling, for the participants as well as for us, the readers. The collection of stories, the ways they are told, and the relationships among the tellers, are reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales and the Decameron. We are also reminded of other storytelling situations through history, especially those in the midst of difficult, precarious times. Part of the appeal here is the confluence of the various characters and stories with the current dilemma they all share, as they are trapped by the pandemic, and are surrounded by its effects (sirens wailing, refrigerated trucks with bodies, the deterioration of their building and of course the psychological impacts of it all). I wasn't quite sure how I would respond to this book, but I found myself completely drawn into it; it is truly -- despite the terrible events -- enthralling reading.