Synopses & Reviews
On a windy September day, twenty-five-year-old Slater Brown stands in the back of a bicycle taxi hurtling the wrong way down the busiest street in San Francisco. Slater has come to “see the elephant,” to stake his claim to fame and become the greatest writer ever. But this city of gleaming water and infinite magic has other plans in this astounding first novelat once a love story, a feast of literary imagination, and a dazzlingly original tale of passion, ambition, and genius in all their guises...
Slater Brown lays siege to San Francisco like Achilles circling Troyuntil he crashes headlong into reality. Out of money and prospects, he applies for a job at a moribund weekly newspaper called the Morning Trumpetand, as if by fate, is given a very special parting gift from a moonlighting mystic.
Suddenly Slater has an exclusive on every story in the city. With his uncanny knack for finding scoops, hes bringing the Trumpet back to life, infuriating a corrupt mayor and falling in love with the woman destined to become his muse. But it is the astonishing inventor Milo Magneta man obsessed with harnessing the weatherwho will force Slater to navigate the most dangerous straits.
For as Milo unleashes his power on San Francisco and the ravishing Callio de Quincy entrances Slater with hers, as storm clouds gather literally overhead, Slater will become at once a pawn, a savior, and the last best hope for a city that needs himand his knack for the truthmore than ever before.
About the Author
Rodes Fishburne has been published in the New Yorker, the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, and Forbes ASAP, where he was the editor of the acclaimed “Big Issue,” an annual magazine of literary essays from leading writers and thinkers. He is a member of the Grotto, a San Francisco writers collective. Going to See the Elephant is his first novel.
Reading Group Guide
Meet Slater Brown. Twenty-five years old, he has arrived in San Francisco with a dream: to write a great novel. But where to begin?
Low on money and even lower on prospects, Slater manages to land a job at a third rate newspaper, The Morning Trumpet. Before long–after being given a strange gift from a mystical seer that has netted him an exclusive on every story in the city–this young man is suddenly the toast of the town.
With his newfound knack for finding scoops, Slater is on top of the world. Hes famous, hes fallen in love, and hes about to singlehandedly take down a corrupt city administration. But things are never quite what they seem, and as storm clouds gather literally overhead, Slater crosses paths with a self-obsessed inventor named Milo Magnet–changing both of their lives forever.
The questions below are intended to enhance your reading of the engaging debut novel James Patterson called “unforgettable…both funny and wise.”