Afternoon of a Faun by James Lasdun

Afternoon of a Faun by James Lasdun

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Summary

Taut, stylish, and psychologically acute, Afternoon of a Faun dramatizes the search for truth as an accusation of sexual assault plunges a journalist into a series of deepening crises.

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Afternoon of a Faun by James Lasdun

Taut, stylish, and psychologically acute, Afternoon of a Faun dramatizes the search for truth as an accusation of sexual assault plunges a journalist into a series of deepening crises.
Brilliant.. Lasdun's writing spreads implication like condensed flavor crystals that dissolve in water. By the end of the novel, he has examined every corner of the narrator's conflicted psyche without once resorting to cliche. -- The New Yorker
Slippery, provoking, and very timely... Something fascinating and disturbing takes place: the book's villain is neither the accused nor the accuser but the ostensibly impartial onlooker... In our moment of rampant #MeToo voyeurism, this sleight of hand works to devastating effect. -- Wall Street Journal
[A] brilliant new novel of the #MeToo era -- Roger Cohen - New York Times
An instant masterpiece that brings the taut psychological precision of a Chekhov story to a hyper-modern, post-#MeToo setting. -- Guardian
Afternoon of a Faun has a propulsive energy... The denouement, when it arrives, is shocking. -- Financial Times
Afternoon of a Faun is a highly conscientious novel, elegant in its execution and almost humble in its refusal to grandstand, or to turn a story about rape allegations into some didactic allegory. -- Josephine Livingstone - New Republic
In an era of sexual reckonings and 'defunct male prerogatives,' any decades-old fling is a ticking time bomb an ambivalent ex can choose to detonate at whim. Yet who's to say what actually happened? Afternoon of a Faun is an exquisitely rendered tale of moral arithmetic, erotic murkiness, and men's fascination with other men's scorecards. It's also Lasdun at his most pleasurably diabolical. -- Laura Kipnis, author of Unwanted Advances
Afternoon of a Faun is a brilliantly imagined, devastatingly insightful, and powerfully rendered novel of sexual exploitation and betrayal. Like all of James Lasdun's work, it is meticulously written and intelligent, both a novel of ideas and a cautionary tale for the #MeToo era. Its ending is bitterly ironic, or perhaps just darkly funny, depending upon one's perspective-and Afternoon of a Faun is about the very drama of 'perspective.' -- Joyce Carol Oates, author of American Martyr
Expertly orchestrated and engaging... Of the novels to come out of the #MeToo moment to date, none is more riveting, insightful, and unsettling. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
James Lasdun was born in London and lives in Brooklyn. His novels, memoir, poetry, and short story collections have won many awards, and his essays have appeared in the New York Times, the London Review of Books, and The New Yorker, among other publications.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781324001942
ISBN 10 1324001941
Title Afternoon of a Faun
Author James Lasdun
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Year published 2019-06-04
Number of pages 160
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.