Synopses & Reviews
Now a major motion picture New York Times bestseller "Utterly extraordinary . . . A piercing sense of the beautiful arising from narrative and emotional fantasy is everywhere alive in the novel . . . Not for some time have I read a work as funny, thoughtful, passionate or large-souled . . . I find myself nervous, to a degree I dont recall in my past as a reviewer, about failing the work, inadequately displaying its brilliance." - Benjamin DeMott, New York Times Book Review Mark Helprins masterpiece will transport you to New York of the Belle Epoque, to a city clarified by a siege of unprecedented snows. One winter night, Peter Lake - master mechanic and second-storey man - attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks it is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the affair between a middle-aged Irish burglar and Beverly Penn, a young girl dying of consumption. It is a love so powerful that Peter Lake, a simple and uneducated man, will be driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature. "He creates tableaux of such beauty and clarity that the inner eye is stunned." - Publishers Weekly "This novel stretches the boundaries of contemporary literature. It is a gifted writers love affair with the language." - Newsday
Review
PRAISE FOR
DRIVE "Full throttle . . . Sallis' riveting novella reads the way a Tarantino or Soderbergh neo-noir plays, artfully weaving through Driver's haunted memory and fueled by confident storytelling and keen observations about moviemaking, low-life living, and, yes, driving. Short and not so sweet,
Drive is one lean, mean, masterful machine.
A."--
Entertainment Weekly "Imagine the heart of Jim Thompson beating in the poetic chest of James Sallis and you'll have some idea of the beauty, sadness and power of Drive . . . [It] has more thought, feeling and murderous energy than books twice its length."--Chicago Tribune
Synopsis
"A perfect piece of noir fiction" (The New York Times Book Review)
Synopsis
Much later, as he sat with his back against an inside wall of a Motel 6 just north of Phoenix, watching the pool of blood lap toward him, Driver would wonder whether he had made a terrible mistake. Later still, of course, thered be no doubt. But for now Driver is, as they say, in the moment. And the moment includes this blood lapping toward him, the pressure of dawns late light at windows and door, traffic sounds from the interstate nearby, the sound of someone weeping in the next room . . . Thus begins Drive , the story of a man who works as a stunt driver by day and a getaway driver by night. He drives, thats alluntil hes double-crossed. Powerful and stylistically brilliant, Drive has been hailed by critics as the "perfect piece of noir fiction" ( The New York Times Book Review ) and an instant classic.
Synopsis
Now a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, and Christina HendricksDriver works as a stunt driver by day and a getaway driver by night. He drives, thats all—until hes double-crossed.
“One stark and stunning tale of murder, treachery, and deceit . . . [Drive] packs a wallop.”—Boston Globe
“A perfect piece of noir fiction . . . focus[ing] on those hollowed-out moments when a mans moral landscape suddenly shifts and hes plunged into darkness.”—New York Times Book Review
“Imagine the heart of Jim Thompson beating in the poetic chest of James Sallis and youll have some idea of the beauty, sadness and power of Drive.”—Chicago Tribune
An Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Book of the Year
About the Author
JAMES SALLIS is the author of the popular Lew Griffin novels and over a dozen other books, including the biography Chester Himes, a New York Times Notable Book. He has been short-listed for the Anthony, Nebula, Edgar, Shamus, and Gold Dagger awards. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona. An Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Book of 2005 A Washington Post Best Book of 2005
Table of Contents
I. THE CITY
A White Horse Escapes 3
The Ferry Burns in Morning Cold 10
Pearly Soames 20
Peter Lake Hangs from a Star 40
Beverly 95
A Goddess in the Bath 110
On the Marsh 130
Lake of the Coheeries 143
The Hospital in Printing House Square 173
Aceldama 191
II. FOUR GATES TO THE CITY
Four Gates to the City 219
Lake of the Coheeries 221
In the Drifts 264
A New Life 347
Hell Gate 370
III. THE SUN...AND THE GHOST
Nothing Is Random 401
Peter Lake Returns 403
The Sun... 418
...and The Ghost 438
An Early Summer Dinner at Petipas 445
The Machine Age 456
IV. A GOLDEN AGE
A Very Short History of the Clouds 505
Battery Bridge 507
White Horse and Dark Horse 544
The White Dog of Afghanistan 579
Abysmillard Redux 591
Ex Machina 606
For the Soldiers and Sailors of Chelsea 641
The City Alight 666
A Golden Age 697
epilogue 747