In this posthumous debut novel, journalist Michael Hastings (The Operators) uses his own life, even his own name, as the foundation of a terrifyingly funny look at the weekly print-magazine world.
The fictional Michael M. Hastings, our narrator, is a "part-time" research assistant interning at the Magazine for 80 hours a week. His recounting of his days takes the form of a book in progress. "Maybe I can write novels, and if that's not... a jump from one sinking ship to another, I don't know what is." Given his close contact with top editors, Michael provides an inside look at the dysfunction and backstabbing during events in the early 21st century.
Meanwhile, Magazine journalist A.E. Peoria is out in the field experiencing said events. Alternating with Michael's first-person account, an omniscient narrator details the trials of Peoria, who survives a bombing while embedded in Iraq, only to bring home wounds no amount of medication can heal. Bouncing from addiction to addiction, Peoria watches his life disintegrate around him. He's the perfect fall guy when the Magazine finds itself embroiled in controversy over a cover story.
Both Michael and Peoria question their futures in the print world, and readers will wonder how the industry lasted this long. Though the characters are unsympathetic and the near-history is painfully familiar, Hastings manages to create enough intrigue to make an entrancing, compelling narrative. Hastings errs on the graphic side, so readers sensitive to detailed fetish sex acts may want to steer clear. But for a society obsessed with its "right to know," The Last Magazine offers the news deliciously unfiltered. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts