Before you read a word of “How to Leave the House” by Nathan Newman, it may help to know that a TV adaptation is already in the works. This is a book that unfolds like it’s destined for the small screen. “It was a cinematic sunset: pinks, oranges and periwinkle blues… Beneath it all was lonely Natwest, a single figure on the empty street…” That passage is about midway through the book, but you get the point. There are other parts that read like stage directions and the novel’s point of view switches from inside the mind of our “hero,” Natwest, to the perspectives of various town residents he encounters during the day.
Let’s back up. This is the story of a young Englishman named Natwest. It is the day before he departs his hometown for the first time for university. He’s intelligent, opinionated, and planning to study art history. He has ordered something embarrassing and the Royal Mail has not delivered it on time. The object in question is revealed on page 50, but it’s too funny to spoil. The plot, such as it is, unfolds over the course of 24 hours as Natwest leaves his house initially for a trip to the post office. When it turns out another town resident has taken possession of the package instead, Natwest’s journey of discovery truly begins.
It’s during his encounters with town residents that Natwest’s perspective begins to change. The pretentious and self-centered young man gives way to someone whose interior monologue sounds like this near the end: “Natwest had always imagined himself to be the main character. … He’d always thought he was leaving them (the town’s residents) behind, but it dawned on him now that it was more likely they were leaving him behind. He was but a minor character in their lives.”
Those lives are rich with pathos and humor. There’s a dentist in love with a trans woman who loves to paint, but only human mouths. There’s an imam who is at heart a cinephile. And a teenager having suicidal thoughts after the leak of nude pictures on the internet. Mix it all up with a secret surrounding Natwest’s own origin story, and you begin to see how it might be a better TV show than it is a book.
But don’t let that stop you from reading it. Fair warning: It is graphic in its description of sexual encounters and doesn’t shy away from difficult topics, including self harm. The humor helps take the edge off a little, but Newman certainly has something to say about the up-and-coming generation. This is a bold new voice, and one to watch.
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This book cover image released by Viking shows "How to Leave the House" by Nathan Newman. (Viking via AP)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Donald Trump's fourth scheduled stop in eight days in Wisconsin is a sign of his increased attention as Republicans fret about the former president's ability to match the Democrats' enthusiasm and turnout machine.
“In the political chatter class, they’re worried," said Brandon Scholz, a retired Republican strategist and longtime political observer in Wisconsin who voted for Trump in 2020 but said he is not voting for Trump or Democratic nominee Kamala Harris this year. “I think Republicans are right to be concerned.”
Trump's latest rally was planned for 2 p.m. Central time Sunday in Juneau in Dodge County, which he won in 2020 with 65% of the vote. Jack Yuds, chairman of the county Republican Party, said support for Trump is stronger in his part of the state than it was in 2016 or 2020. “I can’t keep signs in,” Yuds said. “They want everything he’s got. If it says Trump on it, you can sell it.”
Wisconsin is perennially tight in presidential elections but has gone for the Republicans just once in the past 40 years, when Trump won the state in 2016. A win in November could make it impossible for Harris to take the White House.
Trump won in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton by fewer than 23,000 votes and lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 by just under 21,000 votes.
On Tuesday, Trump made his first-ever visit to Dane County, home to the liberal capital city of Madison, in an effort to turn out the Republican vote even in the state's Democratic strongholds. Dane is Wisconsin’s second most-populous and fastest-growing county; Biden received more than 75% of the vote four years ago.
“To win statewide you’ve got to have a 72-county strategy,” former Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, said at that event.
Trump’s campaign and outside groups supporting his candidacy have outspent Harris and her allies on advertising in Wisconsin, $35 million to $31 million, since she became a candidate on July 23, according to the media-tracking firm AdImpact.
Harris and outside groups supporting her candidacy had more advertising time reserved in Wisconsin from Oct. 1 through Nov. 5, more than $25 million compared with $20 million for Trump and his allies.
The Harris campaign has 50 offices across 43 counties with more than 250 staff in Wisconsin, said her spokesperson Timothy White. The Trump campaign said it has 40 offices in the state and dozens of staff.
Harris rallied supporters in Madison in September at an even that drew more than 10,000 people. On Thursday, she made an appeal to moderate and disgruntled conservatives by holding an event in Ripon, the birthplace of the Republican Party, along with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of Trump’s most prominent Republican antagonists.
Harris and Trump are focusing on Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the “blue wall” states that went for Trump in 2016 and flipped to Biden in the next election.
While Trump’s campaign is bullish on its chances in Pennsylvania as well as Sunbelt states, Wisconsin is seen as more of a challenge.
“Wisconsin, tough state,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, who worked on Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s winning reelection campaign in 2022.
“I mean, look, that’s going to be a very tight — very, very tight, all the way to the end. But where we are organizationally now, comparative to where we were organizationally four years ago, I mean, it’s completely different,” LaCivita said.
He also cited Michigan as more of a challenge. “But again, these are states that Biden won and carried and so they’re going to be brawls all the way until the end and we’re not ceding any of that ground.”
The candidates are about even in Wisconsin, based on a series of polls that have shown little movement since Biden dropped out in late July. Those same polls also show high enthusiasm among both parties.
Mark Graul, who ran then-President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign in Wisconsin, said the number of campaign visits speaks to Wisconsin’s decisive election role.
The key for both sides, he said, is persuading infrequent voters to turn out.
“Much more important, in my opinion, than rallies,” Graul said.
Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, and Jill Colvin in Butler, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
