Synopses & Reviews
"Fasman's fast-paced tale is almost all plot... These characters are better drawn than those in The Da Vinci Code." Newsweek Jon Fasman's dizzyingly plotted intellectual thriller suggests a marriage between Dan Brown and Donna Tartt. When reporter Paul Tomm is assigned to investigate the mysterious death of a reclusive academic, he finds himself pursuing leads that date back to the twelfth century and the theft of alchemical instruments from the geographer of the Sicilian court. Now someone is trying to retrieve them. Interspersed with the present action are the stories of the men and women who came to possess those charmedand sometimes cursedartifacts, which have powers that go well beyond the transmutation of lead into gold. Deftly combining history, magic, suspense, and romanceand as handsomely illustrated as an ancient incunabulumThe Geographer's Library is irresistible.
"A brainy noir . . . [a] winningly cryptic tale . . . a cabinet of wonders written by a novelist whose surname and sensibility fit comfortably on the shelf between Umberto Eco and John Fowles." Los Angeles Times
"One of the year's most literate and absorbing entertainments." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Shades of Dan Brown, Edward Whittemore's Jerusalem Quartet, and Milorad Pavic's Dictionary of the Khazars: one of the year's most literate and absorbing entertainments." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Alchemy, Fasman tells us more than once, is the science of transformation. Good fiction aspires to the same lofty goal, and it is achieved in The Geographer's Library, a cabinet of wonders written by a novelist whose surname and sensibility fit comfortably on the shelf between Umberto Eco and John Fowles." Allen Kurzweil, Los Angeles Times
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"[T]his debut tells a terrific story it's gripping, intelligent, and beautifully wrought." Library Journal
Review
"Fasman's fast-paced tale is almost all plot... These characters are better drawn than those in The Da Vinci Code." Newsweek
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"Fasman has a strong descriptive touch and a feel for young adulthood that come to the rescue time and again, and together with the exotica, they make for a fun book." Chicago Tribune
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"The Geographer's Library makes an effort to get readers off their intellectual duffs by presenting the artifacts in catalog format, separating them from the narrative and demanding that they be seen as elements of a puzzle rather than props in a set piece." Washington Post
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"[A] wonderfully cluttered debut novel....The Geographer's Library (as its title suggests) travels to far-flung locations, and its minor characters can be found in Sicily or Latvia, consorting with KGB men or retired Chinese gangsters. Fasman has in fact worked as a journalist in far-flung locations, yet the world of his novel reads strange and varied, like a place wildly imagined (as the title also might suggest) rather than documented." Anna Godbersen, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
A brainy noir . . . a] winningly cryptic tale . . . a cabinet of wonders written by a novelist whose surname and sensibility fit comfortably on the shelf between Umberto Eco and John Fowles.
--Los Angeles Times One of the year's most literate and absorbing entertainments. --Kirkus Reviews
Jon Fasman's dizzyingly plotted intellectual thriller suggests a marriage between Dan Brown and Donna Tartt. When reporter Paul Tomm is assigned to investigate the mysterious death of a reclusive academic, he finds himself pursuing leads that date back to the twelfth century and the theft of alchemical instruments from the geographer of the Sicilian court. Now someone is trying to retrieve them. Interspersed with the present action are the stories of the men and women who came to possess those charmed--and sometimes cursed--artifacts, which have powers that go well beyond the transmutation of lead into gold. Deftly combining history, magic, suspense, and romance--and as handsomely illustrated as an ancient incunabulum--The Geographer's Library is irresistible.
Synopsis
Jon Fasman's dizzyingly plotted intellectual thriller suggests a marriage between Dan Brown and Donna Tartt. When reporter Paul Tomm is assigned to investigate the mysterious death of a reclusive academic, he finds himself pursuing leads that date back to the twelfth century and the theft of alchemical instruments from the geographer of the Sicilian court. Now someone is trying to retrieve them. Interspersed with the present action are the stories of the men and women who came to possess those charmed and sometimes cursed artifacts, which have powers that go well beyond the transmutation of lead into gold. Deftly combining history, magic, suspense, and romance and as handsomely illustrated as an ancient incunabulum The Geographer's Library is irresistible.
Synopsis
Jon Fasmanandrsquo;s dizzyingly plotted intellectual thriller suggests a marriage between Dan Brown and Donna Tartt. When reporter Paul Tomm is assigned to investigate the mysterious death of a reclusive academic, he finds himself pursuing leads that date back to the twelfth century and the theft of alchemical instruments from the geographer of the Sicilian court. Now someone is trying to retrieve them. Interspersed with the present action are the stories of the men and women who came to possess those charmedandmdash;and sometimes cursedandmdash;artifacts, which have powers that go well beyond the transmutation of lead into gold. Deftly combining history, magic, suspense, and romanceandmdash;and as handsomely illustrated as an ancient incunabulumandmdash;The Geographerandrsquo;s Library is irresistible.
About the Author
Jon Fasman was born in Chicago in 1975 and grew up in Washington, D.C. He was educated at Brown and Oxford universities and has worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., New York, Oxford, and Moscow. His writing has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, Slate, Legal Affairs, the Moscow Times, and The Washington Post. He is now a writer and an editor for The Economist's Web site.