Speed is a funny and sad novel about two brothers growing up in Mount Vernon, New York, in the 1920s and 1930s. The narrator, glib and enterprising, is favored by his family and everyone else. His relationship with his brother, Speed, is affectionate but also psychologically complex and ultimately tortured. He takes advantage of the saintly Speed, whose value, in the eyes of the world, is negated by his disabling stutter. The narrator is successful in everything he attempts, whereas the more gifted Speed is doomed to failure. Then something happens to Speed, and the narrator spends decades missing him and searching for him. Mark Harris brings his characteristic wit, charm, and imagination to a story that is no less poignant for being entertaining.
