Striking a Prose

he heavens are aligned. Two creative forces have come into conjunction. Consider the symmetries, not merely of their nappy-poo poses, but of their situations. Fernanda Eberstadt, above, has just issued her second novel, Isaac and His Devils. Lisa Grunwald, below, has just issued her second novel, The Theory of Everything. Both are young. Both spent years on their second books, agonizing through the shifting sands of rewrites. Both novels concern a precocious male balled up in his own brain. Both novels are published by Knopf. Indeed, both novels were edited by the same editor at Knopf, Victoria Wilson. Eerie, isn't it? There's more. Both suffered momentary depressions after completing their books. Both books received advance raves in Kirkus Reviews. And both writers are going to kill me when this issue comes out. Eerie? It's downright spooky.

There are big diffs. Where Eberstadt's writing is lush and layered, Grunwald's is level, laconic. Eberstadt's hero tries to keep a lid on his devils. Grunwald's courts angels. Eberstadt describes Isaac as a study of the "clumsiness and afflictions'' of a soul finding solace just out of reach. Grunwald describes Theory as a study of "what happens when you get what you want." Future flight paths? Grunwald, who recently left Esquire as an editor, is pitching in for the relaunching of the weekly Life. Eberstadt, who's contemplating an Isaac trilogy, is toiling over a report from Palermo for The New Yorker. Both are skittish about bringing out a book during the Gulf War preoccupation. But them's the breaks. Says Eberstadt, "Writing novels is the only thing I've ever wanted to do. " To which Grunwald adds, ' 'The normal business of living is pretty miraculous in itself."

JAMES WOLCOTT