World literature and its discontents --
The ambassador : Orhan Pamuk's Snow --
Alternate realities : Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 and Roberto Bolano's 2666 --
To America and back : Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah and Mohsin Hamid's The reluctant fundamentalist --
Fearful futures : Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and Michel Houellebecq's The possibility of an island --
Starting from home : Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels.