
The famously false memoirs of James Frey may be yesterday's news, but as this funny riff reminds us, literary fakes are as old as literature itself. Ian Minot is an aspiring writer who labors over short stories that seem destined to remain unread. His beautiful Romanian girlfriend, Anya Petrescu, finds success more easily--and leaves Ian for Blade Markham, a bloviating ex-gangbanger whose "so-called memoir" is a best-seller. When Ian is approached by ex-editor Jed Roth, who wants Ian to publish Jed's pulpy tale of book theft and murder as a memoir, then renounce it, it's a chance for both of them to get revenge: Jed on his former employer, and Ian on the world. Although Langer may be too cute for some (he employs made-up slang in which a penis is a portnoy), he does an engaging job with the hall-of-mirrors plot. And if readers can predict that the book they're reading is the one that Ian ends up writing, they'll never guess the ending. Just when you want a surprising twist, Langer delivers several.
Publisher:
New York : Spiegel & Grau Trade Paperbacks, 2010
ISBN:
9781400068913
1400068916
1400068916
Branch Call Number:
FICTION LANGER
Characteristics:
259 p. ; 22 cm


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Add a CommentA novel story and a fresh take on disaffected Manhattan artistes/baristas. Well written, I'll look for more from this author.
didn't finish this one. I didn't like his mocking of his girlfriends accent in the beginning and the story was just not compelling enough for me.
one of those compelling reads - full of puzzles. Fun and very clever.
not this book by him, but Crossing California to read by him
This is quite the journey of an everyday struggling writer that gets caught up in the caper of his life. Like lasagna, without giving too much away, there are layers of repressed rage, guilt, self-doubt, and revenge that get served up when there is the least control.