Bubblegum

Levin (The Instructions) takes readers to an alternate reality where people are obsessed with robotic pets called Botimals, or “cures.” The funny and occasionally moving narrative, which is set in 1988 and 2013, partially takes the form of a memoir of Belt Magnet. As a young man, Belt, a diagnosed psychotic who hears inanimate objects, enters an experimental study to receive a cure, named Blank, which is about the size of a chipmunk and can rest inside Belt’s sleeve. Blank is extraordinarily cute and able to perform tricks and dances no other cures can match. Belt’s diffuse, episodic memoir details his struggles growing up, including a period when he destroys swing sets, and dealing with a rich bully named Jonboat. The story builds to Belt’s unlikely friendship with Jonboat’s son, Triple J, who is an aspiring writer and filmmaker. Other threads include Belt’s complex relationship with his father, especially during his mother’s illness, and the backstory of Triple-J’s stepmother, a transgender performance artist and scholar. The narrative starts to feel bloated as Levin goes deep into the history of the cures, adding such metafictional pieces as brochures, research papers, and film transcripts. Despite the novel’s slow parts, Levin creates a fascinating world with a wild and often touching coming-of-age story at its center. Agent: Jacqueline Ko, Wylie Agency. (Apr.)