Synopses & Reviews
Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. The psychological maneuvers that accompany attraction have seldom been more shrewdly captured than in André Acimans frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion. Call Me by Your Name is clear-eyed, bare-knuckled, and ultimately unforgettable. André Aciman is the author of Out of Egypt (FSG, 1995) and False Papers (FSG, 2000), and the editor of The Proust Project (FSG, 2004). He teaches comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He lives with his family in Manhattan. A New York Times Notable Book of the YearA San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of the YearA Chicago Tribune Favorite Book of the YearA Seattle Times Favorite Book of the Year Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. What the two discover on the Riviera and during an evening together in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. "A coming-of-age story, coming-out story, a Proustian meditation on time and desire, a love letter, an invocation and something of an epitaph, Call Me by Your Name is also an open question. It is an exceptionally beautiful book that cannot quite bring itself to draw the inevitable conclusion about axis-shifting passion that men and women of the world might like to think they will always reachthat that obscure object of desire is, by definition, ungraspable, indeterminate and already lost at exactly the moment you rush so fervently to hold him or her . . . Aciman, who has written so exquisitely about exile, loss and Proust in his book of essays, False Papers, and his memoir, Out of Egypt, is no less exquisite here."Stacey D'Erasmo, The New York Times Book Review "Acimans first novel shows him to be an acute grammarian of desire. When Oliver, a handsome young American philosopher, arrives in a seaside town in Italy . . . the son of the house, Elioseventeen, studious, moody, and ravenousfalls for him. Elios edgy rapture as he forms himself in relation to another plays out against the background of a scorching Mediterranean summer, and Aciman introduces a small universe of characters who are themselves altered by the charged air that surrounds the lovers: Elios mother, who calls Oliver il cauboi (the cowboy); his generous, hazy father; and the household's cantankerous cook, who every morning carefully cracks open the American's soft-boiled eggs."The New Yorker "Call Me by Your Name is a . . . wise book, written with both lightness and concentrated care for the precise truth of every moment in its drama."Colm Toíbín, author of The Master "Beautifully rendered, evocative, and sexually charged, Call Me by Your Name is the Egyptian-born, Sephardic Jew André Aciman's first novel. His previous two books, the essay collection False Papers and his memoir Out of Egypt, focused on memory and exile. Hereto critical acclaimhe explores a love affair between an adolescent and a young, seductive man. Critics universally praised Aciman's bold account of obsession and lust and his elegant, sensuous prose. Like few other writers, Aciman evokes a time and place exquisitelythe sunny Italian countryside with its summer heat, the pungent blooms, the sprawling vistas."Bookmarks Magazine "A meditation on sexual longing as well as an exploration of the selfishness that such longing engenders. The author's beautiful articulation of the thrill and dismay of unspoken desire underscores the misunderstandings inherent in such a state . . . Aciman's debut is nimble, poised, perceptive, and intelligent. Its emphasis on psychology over plot does not leave it lacking in drive and movement. The novel depicts a male teenager who, although practiced in having to accept his parents' summer guests at their Italian seaside villa, is slammed by an unexpected provocation when . . . a male graduate student arrives, and his obvious intelligence and charm are matched by an undisguised sexiness. What is disguised, at least initially, is the attraction the boy and the graduate student feel for each other."Brad Hooper, Booklist "Elio's and Oliver's interactions range from frosty to torrid as they face uncertainty about their own identities, come to terms with their feelings for each other, and, ultimately, decide to take a risk on this relationship. In his first work of fiction, Aciman (Out of Egypt) describes Elio's anxiety, uncertainty, awkwardness, and, later, passion in incredibly vivid detail, leaving no thought process unexplored. The strong bond between the two characters is reminiscent of the bond between Ennis and Jack in Brokeback Mountain, where each finds in the other the one true love of his life."Sarah Conrad Weisman, Corning Community College, New York, Library Journal "Oliver, the handsome American visitor, charms everyone he meets with his cavalier manner. Elio's narrative dwells on the minutiae of his meandering thoughts and growing desire for Oliver. What begins as a casual friendship develops into a passionate yet clandestine affair, and the last chapters fast-forward through Elio's life to a reunion with Oliver decades later. Elio recalls the events of that summer and the years that follow in a voice that is by turns impatient and tender. He expresses his feelings with utter candor, sharing with readers his most private hopes, urges, and insecurities. The intimacy Elio experiences with Oliver is unparalleled and awakens in the protagonist an intensity that dances on the brink of obsession. Although their contact in the ensuing years is limited to the occasional phone call or postcard, Elio continues to harbor an insatiable desire for Oliver. His longing creates a tension that
Review
"Call Me by Your Name is a beautiful and wise book, written with both lightness and concentrated care for the precise truth of every moment in its drama. It will rest artfully on the shelves between James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room and Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story. It is also a superb novel about the sensuous light of the Mediterranean summer, the languorous days and nights filled with desire. It has always been clear from Aciman's non-fiction that he would, when the time came, write a wonderful novel, but this is a miracle." --Colm Toíbín, author of The Master "If you are prepared to take a hard punch in your gut, and like brave, acute, elated, naked, brutal, tender, humane, and beautiful prose, then you've come to the right place. If you can't handle the violence of the regret it will awaken in you, or the agony of remembering wanting someone more than you wanted anything in your life, or the exquisite suffering that comes with the gain, and loss, of something that neared perfect understanding, then don't read this book. Ditto if you like your literature censored. Otherwise, open the cover and let Aciman pull the pin from the grenade." --Nicole Krauss, author of The History of Love
Review
"Superb . . . The beauty of Aciman's writing and the purity of his passions should place this extraordinary first novel within the canon of great romantic love stories for everyone."--Charles Kaiser, The Washington Post Book World
"An extraordinary examination of longing and the complicated ways in which we negotiate the experience of attraction. . . . It's startling that a novel so bracingly unsentimental--alert to the ways we manipulate, second-guess, forestall, and finally reach stumblingly toward one another--concludes with such emotional depths."--Mark Doty, O, The Oprah Magazine
"This novel is hot . . . a love letter, an invocation, and something of an epitaph. . . . An exceptionally beautiful book."--Stacey D'Erasmo, The New York Times Book Review
"If you are prepared to take a hard punch in your gut, and like brave, acute, elated, naked, brutal, tender, humane, and beautiful prose, then you've come to the right place."--Nicole Krauss, author of The History of Love
"A great love story . . . every phrase, every ache, every giddy rush of sensation in this beautiful novel rings true."--Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times
"The novel is richly, sensuously detailed . . . luminous. . . . Aciman deftly charts a burgeoning relationship that both parties want and fear."--Karen Campbell, The Boston Globe
Synopsis
The sudden and powerful attraction between a teenage boy and a summer guest at his parents' house on the Italian Riviera has a profund and lasting influence that will mark them both for a lifetime, in a novel of obsession, passion, fear, and desire. By the author of False Papers.
Synopsis
Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. The psychological maneuvers that accompany attraction have seldom been more shrewdly captured than in André Aciman's frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion. Call Me by Your Name is clear-eyed, bare-knuckled, and ultimately unforgettable.
Synopsis
This heartrending elegy to human passion is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' house, a cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera.
Synopsis
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Fiction Book of the Year
A New York Magazine “Future Canon” Selection
A Chicago Tribune Favorite Book of the Year
One of The Seattle Times Michael Upchurchs Favorite Books of the Year
An Amazon Top 100 Editors Picks of the Year
An Amazon Top 10 Editors pick: Debut Fiction (#6)
An Amazon Top 10 Editors pick: Gay & Lesbian (#1)
Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. During the restless summer weeks, unrelenting but buried currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them and verge toward the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. André Aciman's critically acclaimed debut novel is a frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion.
About the Author
André Aciman is the author of Out of Egypt (FSG, 1995) and False Papers (FSG, 2000), and the editor of The Proust Project (FSG, 2004). He teaches comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He lives with his family in Manhattan.