Enigma Variations

Andre Aciman

ISBN 10: 1250159970 / ISBN 13: 9781250159977

Published by St Martin's Press, US, 2018

About this Item

Enigma Variations charts the life of a man named Paul, whose loves remain as consuming and as covetous throughout his adulthood as they were in his adolescence. Whether againstthe backdrop of southern Italy, where he develops a crush on his parents cabinetmaker, or a snowbound campus in New England, where his enduring passion for a girl he'll meet again and again over the years is punctuated by anonymous encounters with men; whether he's on a tennis court in Central Park, or on a New York sidewalk in early spring, his attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire - not for just one person's body but, inevitably, for someone else's aswell. Ahead of every step Paul takes, his hopes, denials, fears, and regrets are always ready to lay their traps. Yet the dream of love lingers. We may not always know what we want. We may remain enigmas to ourselves and to others. But sooner or later we discover who we've always known we were.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781250159977

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Enigma Variations
• Publisher: St Martin's Press, US
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1250159970
• ISBN 13: 9781250159977
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Enigma Variations charts the life of a man named Paul, whose loves remain as consuming and as covetous throughout his adulthood as they were in his adolescence. Whether againstthe backdrop of southern Italy, where he develops a crush on his parents cabinetmaker, or a snowbound campus in New England, where his enduring passion for a girl he'll meet again and again over the years is punctuated by anonymous encounters with men; whether he's on a tennis court in Central Park, or on a New York sidewalk in early spring, his attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire - not for just one person's body but, inevitably, for someone else's aswell. Ahead of every step Paul takes, his hopes, denials, fears, and regrets are always ready to lay their traps. Yet the dream of love lingers. We may not always know what we want. We may remain enigmas to ourselves and to others. But sooner or later we discover who we've always known we were.

About the Author

André Aciman is the author of Out of Egypt and False Papers, and the editor of The Proust Project. He teaches comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He lives with his family in Manhattan.