For young Miller Le Ray, life has become a search. A search for his dad, who may or may not have joined the army and gone to Iraq. A search for a notorious (and, unfortunately, deceased) writer, Frederick Exley, author of the “fictional memoir” A Fan’s Notes, who may hold the key to bringing Miller’s father back. But most of all, his is a search for truth. As Miller says, “Sometimes you have to tell the truth about some of the stuff you’ve done so that people will believe you when you tell them the truth about other stuff you haven’t done.”
In Exley as in his previous bestselling novel, An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England, Brock Clarke takes his reader into a world that is both familiar and disorienting, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining. Told by Miller and Dr. Pahnee, both unreliable narrators, it becomes an exploration of the difference between what we believe to be real and what is in fact real.
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Product Description:
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Review:
"Remarkable . . . Clarke's narrative assurance and unfailingly realistic characters allow him to pull off the literary equivalent of a half-court shot . . . [His] performance here is extraordinary; it's far and away the best work of his career." --Michael Schaub, NPR.org
Remarkable . . . Clarke s narrative assurance and unfailingly realistic characters allow him to pull off the literary equivalent of a half-court shot . . . [His] performance here is extraordinary; it s far and away the best work of his career. Michael Schaub, NPR.org"
Clarke has a distinctively winning style. He imagines characters so careful in their reasoning that they are deeply, maddeningly unreasonable but also tenderly hapless at the same time . . . both heart-rending and comically absurd. The New York Times"
With humor as black as Exley s liver, Clarke picks apart the fictions we tell one another and those we tell ourselves. Entertainment Weekly"
Clarke pulls off a nice trick here, playing postmodern games while delivering a cleverly plotted story complete with a surprise twist. The Washington Post Book World"
"Clarke has a distinctively winning style. He imagines characters so careful in their reasoning that they are deeply, maddeningly unreasonable but also tenderly hapless at the same time . . . both heart-rending and comically absurd." --The New York Times
"With humor as black as Exley's liver, Clarke picks apart the fictions we tell one another--and those we tell ourselves." --Entertainment Weekly
"Clarke pulls off a nice trick here, playing postmodern games while delivering a cleverly plotted story complete with a surprise twist." --The Washington Post Book World
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherAlgonquin Books
- Publication date2010
- ISBN 10 1565126084
- ISBN 13 9781565126084
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages303
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Rating