- DESCRIPTION
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- EDITORIAL REVIEWS
From the moment it opens - on a rocky patch of Italian coastline, circa 1962, when a daydreaming young innkeeper looks out over the water and spies a mysterious woman approaching him on a boat - Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruins is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel.
From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to the back lots of contemporary Hollywood, Beautiful Ruins is gloriously inventive and constantly surprising - a story of flawed yet fascinating people navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.
Jess Walter is the author of six novels, including the bestsellers Beautiful Ruins and The Financial Lives of the Poets, the National Book Award finalist The Zero, and Citizen Vince, the winner of the Edgar Award for best novel. His short fiction has appeared in Harper's, McSweeney's, and Playboy, as well as The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He lives in his hometown of Spokane, Washington.
"A monument to crazy love . . . Walter [is] a believer in capricious destiny with a fine, freewheeling sense of humor." - New York Times
"Walter vividly draws a world both tender and cutthroat, where ambition battles reality, daydreams fight doldrums and sometimes win." - Interview
"A marvel, an absolute gem of a beach read that is both hilarious and heartbreaking." - Huffington Post
"Expertly scratches the seasonal itch for both literary depth and dazzle." - Entertainment Weekly
"Entrancing...Walter's turns of phrase are as brilliant as his plot twists, making for a compelling, fun read." - People
