Synopses & Reviews
"Heroism is a secondary virtue," Albert Camus noted, "but friendship is primary." In his gem-like first novel, Forrest Gander writes of friendship, envy, and eros as a harmonic of charged overtones. Set in a rural southern landscape as vivid as its indelible characters, tells the story of Les, a gifted man and land surveyor, whose impact on those around him (his friend Clay, his girlfriend Sarah) provokes intense self-examination and an atmosphere of dangerous eroticism. With poetic insight, Gander explores the nature of attraction, betrayal, and loyalty. What he achieves is brilliant in style and powerfully unsettling.
Review
An adoring friendship turns deadly in poet and translator Gander's visceral if too brief first novel.Gander's assured command of tone'fleeting, recurring images that portend much but upon reflection explain nothing--like friendship? -- A. D. Jameson
Review
As a Friendexplores the nature of attraction, betrayal and loyalty. Gander's lyrical prose often approaches poetry. -- Jay Strafford
Review
It's Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohiomarried to Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts, brought together with overtones of Faulkner. -- Lolita Lark
Review
"Its length is an asset...lending the book the same mercurial qualities as its ostensible subject, the doomed, magnetic Les." Joyelle McSweeney
Review
The clarity of artistic vision, formal innovation, and emotional honesty of As a Friendare enviable. -- J. T. Townley
Synopsis
An unforgettable, sensual novel by "one of the most gifted and accomplished poets of his generation" (Mark Rudman).
About the Author
Forrest Gander(b.1956) grew up in Virginia. He is the author of six books of poetry, articles of literary criticism, and numerous translations. He has received The Whiting Award, two Gertrude Stein Awards for Innovative North American Writing, a Pushcart Prize, an NEA Fellowship, and the Jessica Nobel Maxwell Memorial Prize. He is Director of the Graduate Program in Literary Arts at Brown University, where he also teaches Comparative Literature.