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Dead Souls
Reader Score
69%
69% of readers
recommend this book
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 9 reviews on
For readers of Roberto Bolaño's Savage Detectives and Muriel Spark's Loitering with Intent, this "sublime" and "delightfully unhinged" metaphysical mystery disguised as a picaresque romp follows one poet's spectacular fall from grace to ask a vital question: Is everyone a plagiarist? (Nicolette Polek, author of Imaginary Museums). A scandal has shaken the literary world. As the unnamed narrator of Dead Souls discovers at a cultural festival in central London, the offender is Solomon Wiese, a poet accused of plagiarism. Later that same evening, at a bar near Waterloo Bridge, our narrator encounters the poet in person, and listens to the story of Wiese's rise and fall, a story that takes the entire night--and the remainder of the novel--to tell. Wiese reveals his unconventional views on poetry, childhood encounters with "nothingness," a conspiracy involving the manipulation of documents in the public domain, an identity crisis, a retreat to the country, a meeting with an ex-serviceman with an unexpected offer, the death of an old poet, a love affair with a woman carrying a signpost, an entanglement with a secretive poetry cult, and plans for a triumphant return to the capital, through the theft of poems, illegal war profits, and faked social media accounts--plans in which our narrator discovers he is obscurely implicated. Dead Souls is a metaphysical mystery brilliantly encased in a picaresque romp, a novel that asks a vital question for anyone who makes or engages with art: Is everyone a plagiarist?
Book Details
- Publisher: Catapult
- Publish Date: May 18th, 2021
- Pages: 320
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 9.10in - 6.20in - 1.20in - 1.20lb
- EAN: 9781646220281
- Categories: • Literary• Magical Realism• Visionary & Metaphysical
About the Author
Sam Riviere is the author of a trilogy of poetry books, 81 Austerities (2012) Kim Kardashian's Marriage (2015), and After Fame (2020), all published by Faber, and a book of experimental prose, Safe Mode (Test Centre, 2017). He teaches at Durham University and lives in Edinburgh where he runs the micropublisher If a Leaf Falls Press.
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
The Guardian, 1 of the 10 Best Debut Novelists of the Year
BuzzFeed, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year
A New Statesman Most Anticipated Book of the Year "Mordant, torrential, incantatory, Bolano-esque, Perec-ian, and just so explosively written that I had to stop and shake the language-shrapnel from my hair and wipe it off my eyeglasses so I could keep reading." --Jonathan Lethem "Manic and thrillingly musical." --Dustin Illingworth, The New York Times Book Review "A sardonic novel of poetry, plagiarism and literary politics that leans into its nihilism . . . Clever." --Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal "Dead Souls is an exceedingly cerebral comedy about the viability of contemporary poetry . . . One of the wittiest, sharpest, cruelest critiques of literary culture I've ever read. Riviere unleashes a flock of winged devils to tear apart the hermetically sealed world of privilege, praise and publication in which a few lucky writers dwell . . . What no summary can convey is the hypnotic effect of Riviere's relentless prose . . . An astute, wildly original novel that talks trash about everyone whose success galls you. And there's nothing quite so delicious as that." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post "Sharp and funny." --Lily Meyer, NPR "Hypnotic." --Meg Whiteford, The Believer "A brilliant and brilliantly entertaining novel. The writing is merciless; the rage is genuine . . . Exhilarating." --Toby Litt, The Guardian
"An ingenious and authentic debut novel about privilege and public vilification in the arts sector . . . Entirely original." --Jonathan McAloon, Financial Times (UK) "Whip-smart . . . Weirdly hypnotic . . . The strange and inexplicable abound: there are conspiracies, clues and delicious Nabokovian red herrings . . . Dead Souls is a real achievement." --Tristram Fane Saunders, The Daily Telegraph "Readers will get caught up in the waywardness of this 300-page single-paragraph novel, following its numerous and surprising digressions wherever they may lead . . . The novel pinches its set-up from Camus's The Fall, veers close to Thomas Bernhard's sweeping syntax and yokes together scuzz with the cult of poetry à la Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño . . . By stepping through Dead Souls' funhouse mirror, we see the current normal reality is as absurd and empty as an email. Yet, running through the novel is a skein of hope; stealing might not be as antisocial as it is usually made out. In fact, a little bit of plagiarism might be one of the most communal acts of all." --Sammi Gale, inews (UK) "Inventive . . . Timely and provocative." --Arianna Rebolini, BuzzFeed, Best Summer Books
"Dead Souls feels fresh, candid, and, though no one dares to use the word in this book, heartfelt." --Tim Parks, The New York Review of Books
"Riviere . . . artfully blends metaphysics, existentialism, ideas of originality, and plagiarism, plus an enticing dose of history and memoir in this captivating read." --Reader's Digest, A Best Fiction Book of the Year
"Reminiscent of Thomas Bernhard and, more recently, the works of Lucy Ellman and Mike McCormack . . . Brilliantly inventive . . . Laugh out loud funny, harsh and savage, but also sobering and thoughtful." --Ian Mond, Locus
"The sheer brio and tumbling intelligence of Riviere's narration lift almost every page. Once you catch the spuming surf of his prose-and, as with Bernhard or Marías, it does take a little time-you'll want to ride the wave to the shore . . . Wickedly sharp." --Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk
"Manic and relentless . . . Impeccably written." --Dana Hansen, Chicago Review of Books
"Riviere's provocative debut novel . . . calls to mind Thomas Bernhard not only for its form but its rhythm and cadence . . . Will appeal to fans of Kate Zambreno's Drifts." --Publishers Weekly
BuzzFeed, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year
A New Statesman Most Anticipated Book of the Year "Mordant, torrential, incantatory, Bolano-esque, Perec-ian, and just so explosively written that I had to stop and shake the language-shrapnel from my hair and wipe it off my eyeglasses so I could keep reading." --Jonathan Lethem "Manic and thrillingly musical." --Dustin Illingworth, The New York Times Book Review "A sardonic novel of poetry, plagiarism and literary politics that leans into its nihilism . . . Clever." --Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal "Dead Souls is an exceedingly cerebral comedy about the viability of contemporary poetry . . . One of the wittiest, sharpest, cruelest critiques of literary culture I've ever read. Riviere unleashes a flock of winged devils to tear apart the hermetically sealed world of privilege, praise and publication in which a few lucky writers dwell . . . What no summary can convey is the hypnotic effect of Riviere's relentless prose . . . An astute, wildly original novel that talks trash about everyone whose success galls you. And there's nothing quite so delicious as that." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post "Sharp and funny." --Lily Meyer, NPR "Hypnotic." --Meg Whiteford, The Believer "A brilliant and brilliantly entertaining novel. The writing is merciless; the rage is genuine . . . Exhilarating." --Toby Litt, The Guardian
"An ingenious and authentic debut novel about privilege and public vilification in the arts sector . . . Entirely original." --Jonathan McAloon, Financial Times (UK) "Whip-smart . . . Weirdly hypnotic . . . The strange and inexplicable abound: there are conspiracies, clues and delicious Nabokovian red herrings . . . Dead Souls is a real achievement." --Tristram Fane Saunders, The Daily Telegraph "Readers will get caught up in the waywardness of this 300-page single-paragraph novel, following its numerous and surprising digressions wherever they may lead . . . The novel pinches its set-up from Camus's The Fall, veers close to Thomas Bernhard's sweeping syntax and yokes together scuzz with the cult of poetry à la Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño . . . By stepping through Dead Souls' funhouse mirror, we see the current normal reality is as absurd and empty as an email. Yet, running through the novel is a skein of hope; stealing might not be as antisocial as it is usually made out. In fact, a little bit of plagiarism might be one of the most communal acts of all." --Sammi Gale, inews (UK) "Inventive . . . Timely and provocative." --Arianna Rebolini, BuzzFeed, Best Summer Books
"Dead Souls feels fresh, candid, and, though no one dares to use the word in this book, heartfelt." --Tim Parks, The New York Review of Books
"Riviere . . . artfully blends metaphysics, existentialism, ideas of originality, and plagiarism, plus an enticing dose of history and memoir in this captivating read." --Reader's Digest, A Best Fiction Book of the Year
"Reminiscent of Thomas Bernhard and, more recently, the works of Lucy Ellman and Mike McCormack . . . Brilliantly inventive . . . Laugh out loud funny, harsh and savage, but also sobering and thoughtful." --Ian Mond, Locus
"The sheer brio and tumbling intelligence of Riviere's narration lift almost every page. Once you catch the spuming surf of his prose-and, as with Bernhard or Marías, it does take a little time-you'll want to ride the wave to the shore . . . Wickedly sharp." --Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk
"Manic and relentless . . . Impeccably written." --Dana Hansen, Chicago Review of Books
"Riviere's provocative debut novel . . . calls to mind Thomas Bernhard not only for its form but its rhythm and cadence . . . Will appeal to fans of Kate Zambreno's Drifts." --Publishers Weekly