Synopses & Reviews
Ruth Simon is beautiful, smart, talented, and always hungry. As a teenager, she starved herself almost to death, and though outwardly healed, inwardly she remains dangerously obsessed with food. For Joseph Zimmerman, Ruth's tormented relationship with eating is a source of deep distress and erotic fascination. Driven by his love for Ruth, and haunted by his own secrets, Joseph sets out to unravel the mystery of hunger and denial. This gripping debut novel is a powerful exploration of appetite, love, and desire.
Jonathan Rosen is also the author of The Talmud and the Internet and the novel Joy Comes in the Morning. His essays have appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker, among other publications. Rosen is the editorial director of Nextbook.
Ruth Simon is beautiful, smart, talented, and always hungry. As a teenager, she starved herself almost to death, and though outwardly healed, inwardly she remains dangerously obsessed with food. For Joseph Zimmerman, Ruth's tormented relationship with eating is a source of deep distress and erotic fascination. Driven by his love for Ruth, and haunted by his own secrets, Joseph sets out to unravel the twin mysteries of hunger and denial.
This gripping debut"a seductive and satisying novel that doesn't let you go" (Newsday)presents a powerful exploration of appetite, love, and desire.
"An absorbing, intelligent tale of love and the mysteriousness of the other."The New York Times
"An impressive debut. A highly original addition to the distinguished line of Jewish-American family romances."The New Yorker
"The work of a natural master . . . This is a tale about a hunger artisti.e., about appetite and its suppression, about knowledge and self-knowledge, andabove allabout the riddle of human character."Cynthia Ozick
Review
"Crisp and glittering...a thinking person's love story."--
The Wall Street Journal"An absorbing, intelligent tale of love and the mysteriousness of the other."
--The New York Times
"An impressive debut. A highly original addition to the distinguished line of Jewish-American family romances."
--The New Yorker
"A seductive and satisfying novel that doesn't let you go."
--Newsday
"The work of a natural master...This is a tale about a hunger artist---i.e., about appetite and its suppression, about knowledge and self-knowledge, and---above all---about the riddle of human character."
--Cynthia Ozick
Synopsis
Ruth Simon is beautiful, smart, talented, and always hungry. As a teenager, she starved herself almost to death, and though outwardly healed, inwardly she remains dangerously obsessed with food. For Joseph Zimmerman, Ruth's tormented relationship with eating is a source of deep distress and erotic fascination. Driven by his love for Ruth, and haunted by his own secrets, Joseph sets out to unravel the mystery of hunger and denial. This gripping debut novel is a powerful exploration of appetite, love, and desire.
Synopsis
Ruth Simon is beautiful, smart, talented, and always hungry. As a teenager, she starved herself almost to death, and though outwardly healed, inwardly she remains dangerously obsessed with food. For Joseph Zimmerman, Ruth's tormented relationship with eating is a source of deep distress and erotic fascination. Driven by his love for Ruth, and haunted by his own secrets, Joseph sets out to unravel the mystery of hunger and denial. This gripping debut novel is a powerful exploration of appetite, love, and desire.
About the Author
Jonathan Rosen is the author of
The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey Between Worlds and
Joy Comes in the Morning. He is the editorial director of
Nextbook. He lives in New York City.