Asymmetry
-
-
4.2 • 10 Ratings
-
-
- £10.99
-
- £10.99
Publisher Description
'A scorchingly intelligent first novel' New York Times
'Spellbinding' New Yorker
'Thrilling' Guardian
In New York, Alice, a young editor, begins an affair with Ezra Blazer, a world-famous, much older writer. At Heathrow airport, Amar, an Iraqi-American economist en route to Kurdistan, is detained by immigration. Somehow their lives are connected, in this unconventional love story that has things to say about all of contemporary life.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Split between two seemingly very different stories, this is a remarkably original first novel. Despite the disparity in the narratives—one tells the story of a young woman's complicated, surprisingly moving affair with an ageing author, while the other depicts an Iraqi-American detained at Heathrow Airport en route to his brother in Iraq—Lisa Halliday skilful threads common themes through both and ultimately unites them into a novel that made a huge impression on us. Halliday is a very exciting new voice in U.S. fiction.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Halliday, recipient of a 2017 Whiting Award, crafts a stellar and inventive debut, a puzzle of seemingly incongruous pieces that, in the end, fit together perfectly. In the early aughts, young NYC book editor Alice embarks on an affair with Ezra, a surprisingly kind older novelist. As the American military conflict in Iraq escalates, Alice and Ezra flit into and out of each other lives, bonding over the Red Sox, Scrabble, and Ezra's failure to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. After a health scare lands Ezra in the hospital, Alice must decide the future of their relationship. The second, decidedly different section follows Amar, an Iraqi-American of complicated provenance who has been detained at Heathrow Airport on his way to Iraq. Alternating between the customs official's curt interrogation of Amar and flashbacks to his life in America, the sequence draws the background violence of the earlier section violently into the foreground without sacrificing any of the former's momentum or humor. A singular collision of forms, tones, and arguments, the novel provides frequent delights and never explains too much. Any reader who values innovative fiction should treasure this.
Customer Reviews
Refreshing
If I’d had to review this book before the final chapter it would have been 3 stars tops. However, it all seems to come together in dazzling clarity. A really extraordinary novel that was far from what I expected. A thoroughly enjoyable read that denies you the cliched narrative we have all come to expect.