Lily's an outsider who'll do anything to get in... Francis Steerlock, a middle-aged drifter, hides a hopeless obsession... Sonia, a young hitch-hiker, challenges Francis in a dicey game of hide-and-seek... the elderly Mrs. Stoppit develops an ominous condition... Queenie's preadolescent fascination with the elusive Sonia leads her-and her little brother Tick-across the safe borders of childhood.
Startling, luminous, and cut with metaphysical wit, The Amateur follows these best-intended strangers on an unexpected route to the worst that can happen-and reckons the cost, for better and worse, of being human at all.
Fluh-dump, goes the heart. Fluh-dump. It's not as simple as it looks.
About the Author: Trace Farrell is the author of three novels, Each Time You Carry Me This Way, The Bear, and The Ruins, winner of the New York University Press Prize for Fiction. Visit tracefarrell.com.
Trace Farrell's first novel, The Ruins, was awarded the New York University Press Prize for Fiction and received strong critical praise:
"This magical novel is rich in plot and characters as well as a skillful use of language that is nothing less than musical" Library Journal
"Demonstrating a vein of perversity all her own, Farrell makes a strong bid to join the company of elite postmodern comic writers like Coover and Pynchon" Publishers Weekly
Praise for The Bear "A riot." --Annie Dillard
