The City of Your Final Destination

Description

This startling, beautiful novel set in South America explores the mysterious concepts of love and home. Omar has won an award to write the authorised biography of a celebrated yet obscure writer, Jules Gund, author of The Gondola. It only remains for him to obtain permission from Gund's literary executors: his widow, his mistress and his brother. Their lives still revolve around Ochos Rios, a dilapidated mansion in Uruguay that Gund's parents built after fleeing Nazi Germany. The three cannot agree to approve the work -- although Adam Gund feels sure this will not stop Omar, because 'biographers are clever, vindictive, ruthless people.' If Omar cannot reverse the executors' decision, he will lose his award, his job and, perhaps, his redoubtable girlfriend. Not allowing himself time for reflection, Omar acts against instinct and flies to Uruguay. There, he disturbs the uneasy intimacy of the world Gund has left behind and changes it forever.

Author of the highly acclaimed The Weekend and Andorra (both published by Fourth Estate) Peter Cameron has also written for The New Yorker, Grand Street, and The Paris Review. He lives in New York.

'The overall effect is of a pleasurable melancholy, a sophisticated, slightly old-fashioned romance.' Lindsay Duguid, Sunday Times 'This is one to relish for its subtle dialogue, evocation of a languid, dreamy place and the sly, submerged comedy of random events.' Tamsin Dean, Sunday Telegraph "If The City of your Final Destination were eligible for the Man Booker Prize I would be pressing for it to be on the shortlist." Sally Vickers, The Times "Magical, wonderful, enchanting." Theo Tait, TLS "Written in a delicate, economical style which is a joy to read." Ross Gilfillan, Daily Mail '"The City of Your Final Destination," like Cameron's previous novel, "Andorra," transpires like a dream, sweet if also sometimes barbed, and ends on an unexpected grace note. It's a generous, sunny book, with just enough shadows to hint at the mysterious territory that lies beneath its surface. ' Salon.com Praise for Peter Cameron: * '[Peter Cameron]'s writing is right up there with Armistead Maupin and Tom Wolfe.' Time Out Praise for Andorra * 'A dark-textured, alluring, controlled narrative ... as compulsive as any thriller' Daily Telegraph * 'Exquisitely written, intricate and utterly compelling, this is a novel that hooks you from the very first page and draws you deeper and deeper into a world in which nothing is what it appears and no one is entirely innocent.' Cosmopolitan