Synopses & Reviews
Winner of Frances prestigious Prix Goncourt and a runaway bestseller, Jean Echenozs
Im Gone is the ideal introduction to the sly wit, unique voice, and colorful imagination of “the master magician of the contemporary French novel” (
The Washington Post). Nothing less than a heist caper, an Arctic adventure story, a biting satire of the art world, and a meditation on love and lust and middle age all rolled into one fast-paced, unpredictable, and deliriously entertaining novel,
Im Gone tells the story of an urbane art and antiques dealer who abandons his wife and career to pursue a memorably pathetic international crime spree.
“Crisp and erudite” (The Wall Street Journal), “seductive and delicately ironic” (The Economist), and with an unexpected sting in its tail, Im Gone—translated by Mark Polizzotti—is a dazzling, postmodern subversion of narrative conventions and an amused look at the absurdities of modern life. With a wink and a nod and a keen eye for the droll detail, Echenoz invites the reader “to enjoy Im Gone in the same devil-may-care spirit in which it is offered” (The Boston Sunday Globe).
Review
"A mystery that doubles as a sly work of serious literature. . . . This novel is a quick read and a true jewel."
Kirkus Reviews
"I'm Gone combines the policier, the cultural essay and the urban sex novel to create a vivid, entertaining, hybrid."
—The New York Times Book Review
"Combining the offhand wit of Raymond Chandler with the narrative agility of Peter Høeg, Echenoz crafts a clever, philosophical tale."
—Publishers Weekly
"With a wink and a nod and an easy manner of style, Echenoz all but tells us outright not to take any of this too seriouslyto enjoy I'm Gone in the same devil-may-care spirit in which it is offered."
—The Boston Sunday Globe
"A mordantly humorous work."
—Bookforum
"Echenoz both employs and subverts the convention of the adventure and detective genres in this sly send-up of contemporary art life."
—Library Journal
About the Author
Jean Echenoz won France's prestigious Prix Goncourt for I'm Gone (The New Press). He is the author of five previous novels in English translation and is the winner of numerous literary prizes, among them the Prix Médicis and the European Literature Jeopardy Prize. He lives in Paris. Mark Polizzotti is publications director at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Formerly the editorial director of David R. Godine, he has translated works by André Breton, Patrick Chamoiseau, and Marguerite Duras. He lives in Boston.