How to Sell

Description

A dazzling, dizzying debut - a high-speed American tragicomedy from an astonishing new talent. A dazzling, dizzying debut - a high-speed American tragicomedy and philosophical investigation into the nature of retail, sex and adulthood from an astonishing new talent.;Bobby Clark is just sixteen when he drops out of school to follow his big brother Jim into the jewellery business. Bobby idolises Jim and, from the moment he steps off the plane from Canada, he's in awe of Jim's girlfriend Lisa, the best saleswoman at the Fort Worth Deluxe Diamond Exchange. Under their tutelage, Bobby is determined to learn all he can.;How to Sell is the story of a young man's education in the two oldest human passions, love and money. It charts the swift rise of the Clark brothers and tallies the cost of their success on everyone around them, especially on the woman who becomes a lover to both men. Through the lens of this classic tragedy, Martin captures the luxury business in all its exquisite vulgarity, finding in the diamond and watch trade a metaphor for the American soul at work. ;How to Sell is a marvel of economy, observation, and emotional truth, from a writer whose skills and story arrive fully formed.

A former owner of a variety of jewellery operations in Texas, Clancy Martin is presently an Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. He has translated Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, has written several books for Oxford University Press, and has published many essays, reviews, and short stories.

Dirty, greatly original, and very hard to stop reading -- Jonathan Franzen How To Sell is a bleak, funny, unforgiving novel about how we buy and sell everything - merchandise, drugs, sex, trust, power, peace of mind, religion, friendship, and each other. It's written extremely finely, with wit and enviable self-control. A genuinely fresh, disconcerting voice -- Zadie Smith A relentless, clever, sordid novel about what lies at the heart of most transactions - sex and money -- Francesca Segal * Observer * Smart, devious and sad -- Catherine Taylor * Guardian * This book smells like a hit * Vogue *