Synopses & Reviews
For nine-year-old Miller, who lives with his mother in Watertown, New York, life has become a struggle to make sense of his father"s disappearance, for which he blames himself. Then, when he becomes convinced that he has found his father lying comatose in the local VA hospital, a victim of the war in Iraq, Miller begins a search for the one person he believes can save him, the famously reclusive -- and, unfortunately, dead -- Frederick Exley, a Watertown native and the author of his father"s favorite book, the 'fictional memoir'
A Fan"s Notes. The story of Miller"s search, told by both Miller himself and his somewhat flaky therapist, ultimately becomes an exploration of the difference between what we believe to be real and what is in fact real, and how challenging it can be to reconcile the two.
Part literary satire, part mystery, Exley unleashes the enormous talent of a writer whom critics have compared to Richard Ford and John Irving and whose work has been called 'absurdly hilarious' (Entertainment Weekly) and 'wildly entertaining' (Daily Candy).
Review
"It's the flashes of insight into what it's like to fiercely love a-far-from-perfect father and his sad-sack hero despite their flaws that will move you."
--San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle
Review
“Clarke has a distinctively winning style. He imagines characters so careful in their reasoning that they are deeply, maddeningly unreasonable but also tenderly hapless at the same time . . . both heart-rending and comically absurd.” —The New York Times
Review
“Remarkable . . . Clarkes narrative assurance and unfailingly realistic characters allow him to pull off the literary equivalent of a half-court shot . . . [His] performance here is extraordinary; its far and away the best work of his career.” —Michael Schaub, NPR.org
Review
"Clarke expertly evokes other authors who deal with children's quests in the face of tragedy and mental illness, from J.D. Salinger to Jonathan Safran Foer. In the end, however, the novel comes off as its own original foray into the land of floating realities, and explains why, though so many of us claim to want the truth, in the end we are almost always content to believe in a well-reasoned lie." --
Time Out New York, 5-star review
Time Out New York
Review
"Frederick Exley's classic 1968 account of his epic alcoholism, A Fan's Notes, bears the oxymoronic subtitle "A Fictional Memoir." It is the space between those words, between real and fabricated memory, that Clarke examines . . . With humor as black as Exley's liver, Clarke picks apart the fictions we tell one another--and those we tell ourselves." --
Entertainment Weekly Entertainment Weekly
Review
"In
Exley, Brock Clarke's follow-up to the excellent
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England, hidden identities and secret affairs bubble up when a young boy investigates why his father left the family. We laughed. We cried. We wanted to strangle the meddling therapist." --
Daily Candy Daily Candy
Review
"Oddly brilliant . . . The luminously engaging plot reveals the deceptions we cling to in order to survive . . . Clarke's breathtaking creativity gives unexpected power to his quirky, touching story."
--Daily Beast Daily Beast
Review
"Another literary high-wire performance by a novelist who is establishing himself as a unique voice in contemporary fiction . . . A seriously playful novel about the interweave of literature and life."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Kirkus Reviews
Review
“With humor as black as Exleys liver, Clarke picks apart the fictions we tell one another—and those we tell ourselves.” —Entertainment Weekly
Review
“Clarke pulls off a nice trick here, playing postmodern games while delivering a cleverly plotted story complete with a surprise twist.” —The Washington Post Book World
Synopsis
The bestselling author of "An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England" returns with another wry and insightful novel about truth and reality, this time featuring the alternating voices of a confused young boy and his slightly unstable therapist.
Synopsis
For young Miller Le Ray, life has become a search. A search for his dad, who may or may not have joined the army and gone to Iraq. A search for a notorious (and, unfortunately, deceased) writer, Frederick Exley, author of the “fictional memoir” A Fans Notes, who may hold the key to bringing Millers father back. But most of all, his is a search for truth. As Miller says, “Sometimes you have to tell the truth about some of the stuff youve done so that people will believe you when you tell them the truth about other stuff you havent done.”
In Exley as in his previous bestselling novel, An Arsonists Guide to Writers Homes in New England, Brock Clarke takes his reader into a world that is both familiar and disorienting, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining. Told by Miller and Dr. Pahnee, both unreliable narrators, it becomes an exploration of the difference between what we believe to be real and what is in fact real.
About the Author
Brock Clarke is the author of two previous novels and two short story collections. He lives in Portland, Maine, and teaches at Bowdoin college.