Overlooked Novels: The Underground
Discover hidden literary gems with our list of overlooked underground novels. Explore underrated books that deserve more attention for their unique storytelling and depth.
Book
Clown Girl
by Monica Drake
Clown Girl lives in Baloneytown, a seedy neighborhood where drugs, balloon animals, and even rubber chickens contribute to the local currency. Against a backdrop of petty crime, she struggles to live her dreams, calling on cultural masters Charlie Chaplin, Kafka, and da Vinci for inspiration. In an effort to support herself and her layabout performance-artist boyfriend, Clown Girl finds herself unwittingly transformed into a "corporate clown," trapping herself in a cycle of meaningless, high-paid gigs that veer dangerously close to prostitution. Monica Drake has created a novel that riffs on the high comedy of early film stars -- most notably Chaplin and W. C. Fields -- to raise questions of class, gender, economics, and prejudice. Resisting easy classification, this debut novel blends the bizarre, the humorous, and the gritty with stunning skill.
Book
Ghost Road Blues
by Jonathan Maberry
The first book in a new trilogy that chronicles an apocalyptic showdown between the residents of a secluded, rural farm and the deadly evil that confronts them wherever they turn.