"I wasn't expecting a sequel to Bucher's brilliant The Belan Deck, and was delighted to see him join its Marksonian mode with the diary form for a captivating account of an intellectual on severance. While the nervy narrator declutters his capacious mind of cultural trivia in an attempt to reinvent himself, Bucher limns post-COVID America with wry accuracy. As of Easter, this is the most enjoyable new novel I've read in 2025." -Steven Moore, author of The Novel: An Alternative History

"Remarkable...a Something Happened for the 21st century in both form and content. The Summer Layoff feels vital and indispensable, the kind of book that makes you wonder how you ever lived without it. Its narrator is an all-timer, more companion than character, who stays with you long after the book is closed. If it fails to resonate, try again every ten years: this novel addresses certain of life's inevitabilities-whether you're aware of them or not-and does so with a grace, humanity, and wisdom that will inspire gratitude in any reader ready to enter into conversation with it."-Don Hough, author of The Funeral Girl

"The Summer Layoff is truly a gnostic gem, filled with legend and lore. Read it -- and learn!"-Alexander Theroux, author of Darconville's Cat

"Matt Bucher writes with a torch; in illuminating his own mysteries he sheds a glow in which you encounter your own."-Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude

"Comparisons to Markson are both inevitable and fitting, yet make no mistake-Matt Bucher's The Summer Layoff is wholly fresh, a major literary accomplishment that keeps readers on their toes with its sophistication and liveliness. Told in diary form, this novel is destined to be remembered both as a defining record of life in late-stage capitalism and an answer to the essential question of our time: Work, what is it good for?"-Avner Landes, author of The Delegation