The Mayor's Tongue

Description

A stunningly original novel of literary obsession and imagination from an exciting young talent. The Mayor's Tongue is a bold, vertiginous debut novel that unfolds in two narratives, one following a young man and the other an old man. The young man is Eugene Brentani, a devotee of the reclusive author and adventurer Constance Eakins, who goes to Trieste to find the girl he loves, who has in turn gone there herself to find Eakins. The old man is Mr. Schmitz, whose wife is dying, and who longs to confide in his dear friend Rutherford. But Rutherford has disappeared, and his letters, postmarked from Italy, become more and more ominous as the weeks pass. From a young writer of exceptional promise, this exhilarating novel is a meditation on the frustrations of love, the madness of mayors, the failings of language and the transformative powers of storytelling.

Nathaniel Rich has published essays and criticism in The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, The Nation, The New Republic and Slate. He is an editor at The Paris Review.

I read The Mayor's Tongue with ever-increasing delight, rooting with all my heart for the young protagonist on his near-mythic quest. This is an elegantly-structured, brilliantly-told novel, by turns terrifying, touching, and wildly funny, and always generous and magical... a brave book, a novel brimming with brio. * Stephen King * Playfully postmodern but eminently readable. This is a novel with a big brain and a cheeky wink by an author who could well become one of the defining writers of his generation * The Sunday Telegraph * The Mayor's Tongue reminds me of Peter Carey's early work- the highest possible praise. It presents a young writer of deep ambition and imagination working with a kind of unnerving maturity. * Colum McCann * Ambitious, intelligent, hallucinatory, and, most importantly: heartfelt. Here is a young writer who is not afraid to give literature a kick in the pants * Gary Shteyngart * Rich invites absolute trust in his postmodern jousting with the reality-busting potential of storytelling -- Claire Allfree * Metro *