The Salinger Contract
A Novel
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An enthralling literary mystery that connects some of the world's most famous authors—from Norman Mailer and Truman Capote to B. Traven and J. D. Salinger—to a sinister collector in Chicago
Adam Langer, the narrator of this deft and wide-ranging novel by the author of the same name, tells the intertwining tales of two writers navigating a plot neither one of them could have ever imagined. There may be no other escape than to write their way out of it.
Adam is a writer and stay-at-home dad in Bloomington, Indiana, drawn into an uneasy friendship with the charismatic and bestselling thriller author Conner Joyce. Conner is having trouble writing his next book, and when a menacing stranger approaches him with an odd—and lucrative—proposal, events quickly begin to spiral out of control.
A novel of literary crimes and misdemeanors, The Salinger Contract will delight anyone who loves a fast-paced story told with humor, wit, and intrigue.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This playful literary thriller from Langer (The Thieves of Manhattan) about the imperiled state of writers and books in the 21st century suggests Paul Auster's New York Trilogy with a lighter touch. Narrator Adam Langer's quiet existence as a stay-at-home dad in Bloomington, Ind., is disrupted when thriller author Conner Joyce, whom Adam once profiled in his livelier past life as a journalist in New York City, comes to town on an author tour. Soon after the two renew their friendship, Conner reveals that he's received a bizarre offer. The wealthy, mysterious Dex wants Conner to write a novel for a private collection of unpublished manuscripts from the likes of Thomas Pynchon, Norman Mailer, and, of course, J.D. Salinger. Adam becomes the bestselling author's closest confidant as Conner's involvement with Dex turns dangerous. Langer stumbles with his strained characterization of Conner as an all-around regular guy, but his vision of the publishing world, which ranges from a half-empty Midwestern Borders to a young adult fantasy author who comes on like a foul-mouthed cross between J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer, is a wittily spooky creation.
