Phrases and episodes recall the power and precision of Gilbert's first book, but they never cohere, never justify the investment in time and trees. A natural short story writer, Gilbert seems out of his depth when he moves from 20 pages to 400. Let's hope that he can stop trying to write the Great American Novel, and go back to writing great American short stories.

Satirical excess aside, Billy is like the main characters too many young novelists come up with these days: a ruminating observer more inclined to pronounce on events than to drive them...You can build a good short story around this kind of guy, but the longer form is another matter...What saves ''The Normals'' is that Gilbert makes Billy's mopey paralysis the novel's central problem.