A01=Mark Haber
Absurdist
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
architecture
art
Author_Mark Haber
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Category1=Fiction
Category=FA
Category=FB
Category=FU
Category=FUP
Category=FV
colonialism
COP=United States
dark satire
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eastern europe
Eccentric characters
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_historical-fiction
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
escapism
european history
explorers
fiction
international search for meaning
Language_English
lost mentor
metaphysics
nineteenth
PA=Available
philosophy
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
revisionist
softlaunch
south america
stream of consciousness
twentieth century
Product details
- ISBN 9781566895620
- Dimensions: 127 x 196mm
- Publication Date: 14 Nov 2019
- Publisher: Coffee House Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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In this delightfully dense, fast-paced comedy with notes of László Krasznahorkai and Saul Bellow, Jacov and his scribe cross continents in search of the legendary prophet of melancholic philosophy.
At the turn of the twentieth century, as he composes a treatise on melancholy, Jacov Reinhardt sets off from his small Croatian village in search of his hero and unwitting mentor, Emiliano Gomez Carrasquilla, who is rumored to have disappeared into the South American jungle—“not lost, mind you, but retired.” Jacov’s narcissistic preoccupation with melancholy consumes him, and as he desperately recounts the myth of his journey to his trusted but ailing scribe, hope for an encounter with the lost philosopher who holds the key to Jacov’s obsession seems increasingly unlikely.
From Croatia to Germany, Hungary to Russia, and finally to the Americas, Jacov and his companions grapple with the limits of art, colonialism, and escapism in this antic debut where dark satire and skewed history converge.
At the turn of the twentieth century, as he composes a treatise on melancholy, Jacov Reinhardt sets off from his small Croatian village in search of his hero and unwitting mentor, Emiliano Gomez Carrasquilla, who is rumored to have disappeared into the South American jungle—“not lost, mind you, but retired.” Jacov’s narcissistic preoccupation with melancholy consumes him, and as he desperately recounts the myth of his journey to his trusted but ailing scribe, hope for an encounter with the lost philosopher who holds the key to Jacov’s obsession seems increasingly unlikely.
From Croatia to Germany, Hungary to Russia, and finally to the Americas, Jacov and his companions grapple with the limits of art, colonialism, and escapism in this antic debut where dark satire and skewed history converge.
Mark Haber’s 2008 collection of stories, Deathbed Conversions, was translated into Spanish in 2017. He has served as a juror for the National Endowment for the Arts translation grant as well as the Best Translated Book Award. He lives in Houston, Texas, where he is a bookseller and the operations manager of Brazos Bookstore.
