Last Resort
A New York Times Editor’s Pick
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- 4,49 €
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- 4,49 €
Publisher Description
Named a Best Book of 2022 by the New Yorker
Named a Top 10 Book of the Year by Slate
Named a Best Book of the Year by Vulture
A New York Times Editors' Choice
Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction
'Talent is rare, which is why I let out a big yippee reading Andrew Lipstein's Last Resort... Excellent'
THE TIMES
'You won't read a more brilliantly executed literary romp this year'
GUARDIAN
'A funny, fast-paced literary satire'
DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Incredibly entertaining'
NEW YORK TIMES, Editor's Choice
'Wicked fun... A deliciously absurd comedy'
WASHINGTON POST
'If Less by Andrew Sean Greer left a hole in your life, good news: Last Resort will fill it'
MEG MASON
'Caleb Horowitz is exactly the kind of character I love to hate'
CLAIRE FULLER
'A rare accomplishment'
RUMAAN ALAM
'Wickedly funny: I loved it'
PATRICK GALE
'Superbly written, darkly funny and gripping from the first page. I absolutely loved it'
EMMA STONEX
Caleb Horowitz is twenty-seven, and his wildest dreams are about to come true. His manuscript has caught the attention of the literary agent, who offers him fame, fortune and a taste of the literary life. He can't wait for his book to be shopped around to every editor in New York, except one: Avi Dietsch, a college rival and the novel's 'inspiration.'
When Avi gets his hands on the manuscript, he sees nothing but theft - and opportunity. And so Caleb is forced to make a Faustian bargain, one that tests his theories of success, ambition and the limits of art.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lipstein debuts with a fluidly written but tepid send-up of publishing's thorny issues of authorship and attribution. Caleb Horowitz leaves an advertising job in New York to pursue writing in Florida. After the manuscript of his first novel is roundly rejected, he crashes with an old college friend, Avi Dietsch, in Los Angeles, and Avi relates a steamy tale about a foursome he had in Greece. Caleb uses this anecdote, without permission, as the basis for a new novel. Five months later, Caleb falls in love with Sandra, a woman he met on Tinder, and sells the book for $830,000, but the fantasy evaporates when Avi, who now works in publishing and is dating Sandra's best friend, recognizes the manuscript because Caleb didn't rename the characters. In a hush-hush legal deal, Caleb cedes authorship to Avi in exchange for retaining the advance in full. Caleb is mollified by his newfound wealth and steady girlfriend until the book is a runaway success and Avi gets the acclaim. His regret leads him into a series of schadenfreude-laden missteps that, while occasionally entertaining, do little to illuminate why Caleb is stuck repeating old wrongs. The underdeveloped characters add to the muddiness at the heart of this story. This lands decidedly off target, somewhere between fairy tale and satire.
