With a Zero at its Heart

Description

24 themed chapters. Each with 10 numbered paragraphs. Each paragraph with precisely 120 words. The sum of a life. In his beautiful and haunting new book, Charles Lambert explores the fragmentary nature of memory, how the piecing together of short recollections can reveal a greater narrative. Through chapters tackling elemental themes such as Sex, Death, and Money, Lambert assembles the narrator's moving life story. Executed with all the grace and finesse of his previous acclaimed work, this is an incredible artistic achievement, breathtaking in its simplicity yet awe-inspiring in its scope. With cover and text design by the renowned designer Vaughan Oliver, With a Zero at its Heart is as beautiful to look at as it is to read.

Charles Lambert was born in 1953 in England, but, apart from brief spells in Ireland, Portugal and London, has lived and worked in Italy since 1976. He is the author of three novels, Little Monsters, Any Human Face and The View from the Tower, as well as a collection of prize-winning stories, The Scent of Cinnamon and Other Stories, and a novella, The Slave House.

'Poetic, tender and funny.' Guardian 'Nabokov once said that "imagination is a form of memory". This brief, luminous book bears out that idea in arresting snapshots of one man's life. The sentences prove to be every bit as lovely as Vaughan Oliver's cover design.' Jonathan Lee, author of Joy 'An unusual and wonderful book.' Viv Groskop, Red Magazine 'Each beautifully crafted episode in this exquisite book is coruscating, profound and original. Lambert's fearless precision and integrity reminded me of Italo Calvino's work. Dazzling.' Angela Jackson, author of The Emergence of Judy Taylor 'A brilliant and heart-breaking novel written with great grace and tenderness. If Frank O'Hara had written fiction, it might have looked like this.' Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation 'Compelling and oddly compulsive. Each short paragraph is well expressed and sensitively written and above all feels very honest and clean.' Culturefly 'A collection of beautiful fragments entwined within an unforgettable novel.' Caroline Smailes, author of The Drowning of Arthur Braxton 'Beautifully crafted life in miniatures. Incredibly original.' A.M. Bakalar, author of Madame Mephisto 'There is cool precision to each discrete paragraph. These, which kaleidoscopically can be read in any order or pattern, form a fascinating portrait of a very specific life.' David Rose, author of Posthumous Stories