Charles Baxter's new novel, "Blood Test," is billed as a comedy, and it is a comedy mostly in that it is not a tragedy. Is it funny? Yes, but darkly so; its humor, which is delightful, is wrapped ...

Charles Baxter’s new novel, “Blood Test,” is billed as a comedy, and it is a comedy mostly in that it is not a tragedy. Is it ...

And “Blood Test” is a funny book, if of a careful sort. Sometimes Baxter will go for a throwaway gag line (“Women don’t like it when you make generalizations about them”) or a quirky ...

I was out there floating in space, turning end over end, lost in my errant thoughts.” “Blood Test” finds funny ways to tether ...