Firmin - Softcover

"Firmin is one of the most enjoyably surprising books I've read for a long time. It's a work of great originality: whenever I thought it was going to be one sort of book, it gently swerved aside and became another. This suggests an uncertainty of purpose, but that's not the impression at all. It's held together by the character of the narrator himself, a rat of deep humanity and intelligence, and the final impression is one of delicate tragedy. This really is a book like nothing else."--Philip Pullman

"Delicious. Firmin""is a book that is written for Readers, that is, for people who have the book passion and for whom books are as real as anything else in life. Realer, perhaps." --Donna Leon

"""Surprising and moving meditation on the advantages (and disadvantages) of an entirely fictional life. Eloquent and witty, Firmin speaks for the book-loving rodent in all of us." --Karen Joy Fowler, bestselling author of "The Jane Austen Book Club

""[A] moving and wildly inventive novel...Firmin is a hero in the Dickensian mode...with the sardonic shadings of Vonnegut, and the same explicit tenderness." --"Los Angeles Times"

"An alternately whimsical and earnest paean to the joys of literature." --"Publishers Weekly"

"Mouth-wateringly creative, clever, unconventional and entertaining....Firmin is the kind of debut novel that exemplifies an author's raw creativity and passion for the art of writing, as much as the story. All readers will want to take a bite, both figuratively and literally, out of this page-turner."--BookBrowse.com

"Firmin is one of the most enjoyably surprising books I ve read for a long time. It s a work of great originality: whenever I thought it was going to be one sort of book, it gently swerved aside and became another. This suggests an uncertainty of purpose, but that s not the impression at all. It s held together by the character of the narrator himself, a rat of deep humanity and intelligence, and the final impression is one of delicate tragedy. This really is a book like nothing else." Philip Pullman
Delicious. Firmin is a book that is written for Readers, that is, for people who have the book passion and for whom books are as real as anything else in life. Realer, perhaps. Donna Leon
Surprising and moving meditation on the advantages (and disadvantages) of an entirely fictional life. Eloquent and witty, Firmin speaks for the book-loving rodent in all of us. Karen Joy Fowler, bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club
[A] moving and wildly inventive novel Firmin is a hero in the Dickensian mode with the sardonic shadings of Vonnegut, and the same explicit tenderness. Los Angeles Times
An alternately whimsical and earnest paean to the joys of literature. Publishers Weekly
"Mouth-wateringly creative, clever, unconventional and entertaining....Firmin is the kind of debut novel that exemplifies an author's raw creativity and passion for the art of writing, as much as the story. All readers will want to take a bite, both figuratively and literally, out of this page-turner." BookBrowse.com"

A darkly comic rat's tale of exile, unrequited love and the redemptive power of books.