Synopses & Reviews
With a New Introduction by Jonathan Franzen
Theres Rob, Bob, Tom, Paul, Ralph, and Noah; Nick, Dennis, Bertram, Russell, and Virgil. The doctor, the documentary filmmaker, and the sculptor in burning steal; the eldest, the youngest, and the celebrated “perfect” brother, Benedict. In Donald Antrims mordantly funny novel The Hundred Brothers, our narrator and his colossal fraternity of ninety-eight brothers (one couldnt make it) have assembled in the crumbling library of their familys estate for a little sinister fun. Executed with the invention and intelligence of Barthelme and Pynchon, Antrims taxonomy of male specimens is in equal proportions disturbing and absurdly hilarious.
Review
“A fiercely intelligent writer . . . This is a bravura nightmare.”—The New York Times
“The authors surreal vision is both imaginative and wholly his own . . . A striking literary discovery.”—The Boston Globe
“Elegant, outrageously imagined, comic . . . Antrim exaggerates his narrator into hilarious existence.”—The New Yorker
“A fantasy that capers between atavistic ritual and inspired slapstick.”—Time
About the Author
Donald Antrim is the critically acclaimed author of Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World, The Hundred Brothers, and The Verificationist, as well The Afterlife, a memoir about his mother. A regular contributor to The New Yorker, he has also been the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Grant and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Public Library. He lives in New York City.