This Breathing World - Softcover

Juan, Jose Luis De

Softcover

ISBN 10: 190085080X ISBN 13: 9781900850803

Publisher: Arcadia Books, 2007

Synopsis

Can stories change not just the future, but more compellingly, the past? Two stories are placed in front of one another like mirrors. The first of this pair of thrillers is set in first-century Rome and relates the rise and fall of Mazuf, a homosexual Syrian scribe and renowned man of letters who is driven to kill. The second is a confession by a present-day American named Laurence; it seems to be mostly about his sexual exploits during his student days at Harvard, but we soon find out that there is a lot more to his tale than we had originally bargained for. Laurence, a disaffected and sophisticated narrator, is a murderer too. These mysteries are constructed as reflections of each other, like mirrors set up in a deserted ballroom, enveloping readers in the stories of the young murderers told through their own eyes. In a playfully unsettling and wonderfully sensual novel, prize-winning author Jose Luis de Juan explores the secret history of desire and the dark desire to make history.

About this title

Review:

'A work of stunning virtuosity, intelligence and elegance' - FRANCIS KING'Literary playfulness and irony combine...Beautifully written' - El Pais

About the Author:

Born in 1956 in Mallorca, where he still resides, Jose Luis de Juan is a prize-winning author of four novels, a book of essays and a collection of short stories. He has been published to great acclaim in France, where he was distinguished as a writer in residence at Mont Noir, Marguerite Yourcenar's house.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcadia Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 190085080X
• ISBN 13: 9781900850803
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 344