Shipwreck by Louis Begley

Shipwreck by Louis Begley

A mesmerizing novel of deception and betrayal from the acclaimed author of Wartime Lies and About Schmidt.
John North, a prize-winning American writer, is suddenly beset by dark suspicions about the real value of his work. Over endless hours and bottles of whiskey consumed in a mysterious cafe called L'Entre Deux Mondes, he recounts, in counterpoint to his doubts, the one story he has never told before, perhaps the only important one he will ever tell. North's chosen interlocutor-who could be his doppelg nger-is transfixed by the revelations and becomes the narrator of North's tale.

North has always been faithful to his wife, Lydia, but when one of his novels achieves a special success, he allows himself a dalliance with Lea, a starstruck young journalist. Coolly planning to make sure that his life with Lydia will not be disturbed, North is taken off guard when Lea becomes obsessed with him and he with her elaborate erotic games. As the hypnotic and serpentine confession unfurls, we gradually discover the extraordinary lengths to which North has gone to indulge a powerful desire for self-destruction.
Shipwreck is a daring parable of the contradictory impulses that can rend a single soul-narcissism and self-loathing, refinement and lust.

Kill and be Killed, Killer, Come Hither, Memories of a Marriage, About Schmidt, and Wartime Lies, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Irish Times/Aer Lingus International Fiction Prize, are among Louis Begley's prior works. His work has been published in fourteen different languages. He is an American Academy of Arts and Letters member.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780345464095
ISBN 10	0345464095
Title	Shipwreck
Author	Louis Begley
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2004-09-28
Number of pages	272
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.