A short, profoundly intelligent novel about two strangers who swap lives to find new ones: a story of aspiration, ambition, and the possibility of radical newness.
Aubrey Lewis and Lindsey Korine are adrift. Aubrey (widower, perma-subletter, retired actor whose career never amounted to much beyond a bit part on a B-list sitcom) and Lindsey (layabout, gambler, hothead, absentee father) meet by chance at a crossroads, literally, and find themselves drawn to and repelled by each other, each the other's uncanny double. As Lindsey secretly answers a casting call on Aubrey's behalf and gets the part, Aubrey finds himself playing father to the other man's son and being a better husband to the other man's wife (who shares his own dead wife's name). Each day the strange ruse becomes truer and stranger, more entrenched. Plunged into an existential game of cat-and-mouse, pursuit and retreat, they find that acting makes it possible to finally act. Isabel Waidner's As If is a slender, propulsive, and unusually wise novel about what happens when we fall out of our roles and attempt to make new ones: a tale of thwarted expectation, renewed ambition, and the possibility of escape. It is the story of two men, or maybe one: a love story and a ghost story both."synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Isabel Waidner is the author of Corey Fah Does Social Mobility, Sterling Karat Gold, We Are Made of Diamond Stuff, and Gaudy Bauble. They are the winner of the Goldsmiths Prize and cofounded the event series Queers Read This. They teach at Queen Mary University of London.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. "A surreal existential caper exploring identity and performance, midlife purpose and regret, and the difficulty of finding--and escaping--yourself. Sly, absurd and poignant, it is a triumph of narrative voice." --The Spectator (UK) Two men meet in an apartment in London. They are strangers to one another, and yet they look remarkably alike. Lewis is grieving his dead wife; Korine is hiding from his very-much-alive one. Lewis never had children; Korine has just walked out on his. Lewis is a retired actor whose career never amounted to much beyond a bit part on a B-list sitcom; Korine has always dreamed of acting. Slowly and then all at once, each begins to live on the other's behalf. As Korine answers a casting call under Lewis's name, Lewis finds himself playing father to the other man's son. Each day the strange ruse becomes truer and stranger, more entrenched. Plunged into an existential game of cat-and-mouse, pursuit and retreat, they find that acting might make it possible to, finally, live. Isabel Waidner's As If is a wily, propulsive, and unusually wise novel about what happens when we fall out of our roles and attempt to make new ones: a tale of thwarted expectation, renewed ambition, and the possibility of escape. It is the story of two men, or maybe one: a love story and a ghost story both. "This is a stunning book with much to say about how grief can alter our life (or lives). A towering achievement from one of contemporary literature's most original minds." --Kirkus (Starred) Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780374620332
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