The other day I finished The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta. I haven't read a purely character-driven novel in a good while, and the introspection this book offered into the lives of everyday people in a post-crisis Suburbia was pretty interesting. It's amazing how Perrotta took very ordinary people and made their simple lives so addictive to follow.
The last in-depth character study I read was A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. The concept of the book is very different from Leftovers, but the characters were studied in a similar bleak light. What struck me about the two books was how Perrotta required very little fodder to create memorable people, whereas Egan's plot was driven by the complexities of unbelievably quirky characters.
The lesson I took from Leftovers is this: if your writing is compelling enough, you don't need to embellish your characters. Let your plot's circumstances bring out the best and worst in normal people, and you will have a more convincing story.
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