So Dave Eggers’ publishing house, McSweeney’s, recently released what critics are calling “One of the 21st century’s finest literary creations.”

It’s called The Instructions, and it was writtenby the young (33-year old) new author Adam Levin. Granted, the “21st Century” is composed only of 10 years’ worth of ficion, but given that this guy spent a decade working on this mammoth 900+ page novel, I think that maybe it’s worth our attention. Of course length is a lame qualifier as a standard of literary merit, but the synopsis and its reviews make it sound pretty hilarious, engaging, maybe sad at some points. And they make it sound characterized by something that seems crucial for a book of such serious length: this thing sounds really fun and rewarding.

I ordered my copy today after reading the first chapter. The main character, Gurion Maccabbee, is a ten-year old Torah scholar (among other variations on scholar, from what I can tell so far) who kicks the shit out of two kids in the first 8 pages and has a messianic complex. And, though that brief character-description might not imply it, he’s totally likeable (at least, once again, from what I’ve read so far). The first chapter, some snippets of reviews, a synopsis, and the book itself ($24) are all available on the page the above link directs you to (it goes to the McSweeney’s page). I’m psyched. Homework can wait awhile; this thing’s comin overnight.

-JDA