The Immortalists

BENJAMIN, Chloe

ISBN 10: 0735213186 / ISBN 13: 9780735213180

Published by Putnam's, U.S., 2018

About this Item

This is a successful, mostly well-reviewed second novel. Clare Clark, in Britain's "The Guardian", opining that it "worms its way under your skin" and that Benjamin "writes with verve and charm". This first printing is signed by the author on the title page, and here I must take a moment to release a little grumble. When an author signs a book, they do so in order to make that copy special; to give it status over other copies by showing that it has been touched and marked by the person who created it, thus providing an important extra connection between the author and the book's owner. (I'm obviously not talking here about the suspect habit of publishers who have authors sign pieces of paper that are subsequently bound into the book as an added page.) It is my contention that in these circumstances, it becomes incumbent upon that author to ensure that the signature is at least recognizable. This "signature" of Chloe Benjamin's is (although undoubtedly hers) little more than a meaningless scribble. Not even the form of a recognizable letter is discernible in the dismissive little doodle. So, come on authors: if someone is going to afford you the respect and admiration of asking you to sign a book, make sure that you repay them by coming up with a signature that represents your name in a recognizable way. Even if the writer's natural signature is an indistinguishable scrawl, what's to stop them from honoring the process and purpose of signing a book by developing a book-signing signature? Rant over! There is just a hint of softening to top of spine, but a fine copy in near fine dust jacket with a touch of wear to top of spine and a small offset stain to inside surface.

Seller Inventory # 001678

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Immortalists
• Publisher: Putnam's, U.S.
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0735213186
• ISBN 13: 9780735213180
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Washington Post • NPR • Entertainment Weekly • Real Simple • Marie Claire • New York Public Library • LibraryReads • The Skimm • Lit Hub • Lit Reactor 

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A captivating family saga.”—The New York Times Book Review

“This literary family saga is perfect for fans of Celeste Ng and Donna Tartt.”—People Magazine (Book of the Week)

If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.

The prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in '80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.

A sweeping novel of remarkable ambition and depth, The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice, reality and illusion, this world and the next. It is a deeply moving testament to the power of story, the nature of belief, and the unrelenting pull of familial bonds.

About the Author

Chloe Benjamin is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Immortalists. Her first novel, The Anatomy of Dreams, received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was long listed for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. She is a graduate of Vassar College and the M.F.A. in fiction at the University of Wisconsin. She lives with her husband in Madison, WI.