Kathy, once wild, is about to marry an older Englishman in “Crudo.” Trump and Brexit whirl around her. The novel careens from the excesses of the rich to the existential despairs of the rich, across location after location, in a dizzying sequence that fleshes out what is a slight plot. But the plot isn’t the point, rather it’s the sharp inner commentary taken from the headlines and also from the works of punk author Kathy Acker. I haven’t read Olivia Laing’s nonfiction but intend to, for this is intellectually sharp writing (not as funny as I imagined, but then, I’m not easily tickled) that intrigues long after Kathy’s journey ceases.
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