A great sprawling crime saga, a strange and incredible mixed-reality documentary, and a new album of perfect indie-hyper-pop-punk

Roundup 06/16/2024

Greetings from Read Max HQ, and welcome to our weekly roundup column, in which I pick out some worthwhile and often overlooked books, articles, movies, and music to recommend to paying subscribers. For this week’s round-up, I’ve got:

• A sprawling crime novel in the vein of Richard Price;

• a terrific and funny new reality-TV/documentary hybrid; and

• a new album of perfectly written pop/pop-punk/indie pop/hyperpop songs.

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Now, the roundup: