Diary of a Bad Year - J.M. Coetzee
Brisk prose split into three concurrent stories: at the top of the page the liberal rant of the protagonist (ostensibly Coetzee himself) regarding topics ranging from media, politics, to birds. the middle page is a story in the first-person of the author of the essays, an aging writer who falls for a young neighbor and hires her on as a secretary of sorts. at the bottom is another story in the first-person, but from the girl's point of view, as she studies the writer and is caught between the liberal and erudite old man and her possessive, capitalist boyfriend.

inventive and compelling. despite its uncanny style it was a good introduction to Coetzee: since i agreed with most of his opinions (in the form of the essays at the top of the pages) i trusted him as an author i could relate to. i'm determined to read the rest of his books now.