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Set in a theme park in the Everglades, **Karen Russell’**s hugely original debut, Swamplandia! (Knopf) (which is already being adapted for HBO by Scott Rudin) finds lush metaphoric whimsy in the story of a family of alligator wrestlers, and in the point of view of a daughter keeping things afloat after the loss of her mother.
Vogue Contributing Editor Megan O Grady picks her favorites of 2011, from dazzlingly original fiction to unforgettable memoirs.
