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A Novel
by Andrew Porter
From the award-winning, internationally acclaimed writer, a taut, elegiac novel about a man trying to uncover the truth about the father who left him behind.
Steven Mills has reached a crossroads. His wife and son have left, and they may not return. Which leaves him determined to find out what happened to his own father, a brilliant, charismatic professor who disappeared in 1984 when Steve was twelve, on a wave of ignominy.
As Steve drives up the coast of California, seeking out his father's friends, family members, and former colleagues, the novel offers us tantalizing glimpses into Steve's childhood—his parents' legendary pool parties, the black-and-white films on the backyard projector, secrets shared with his closest friend. Each conversation in the present reveals another layer of his father's past, another insight into his disappearance. Yet with every revelation, his father becomes more difficult to recognize. And, with every insight, Steve must confront truths about his own life.
Rich in atmosphere, and with a stunningly sure-footed emotional compass, The Imagined Life is a probing, nostalgic novel about the impossibility of understanding one's parents, about first loves and failures, about lost innocence, about the unbreakable bonds between a father and a son.
Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award 2026
Here is an interesting award recognizing distinguished fiction that tells American stories in a uniquely American voice, one that reflects Mark Twain's incisive curiosity and humanity. Celebrating its tenth year. Longlist 2026 Are You Happy?: Stories — Lori Ostlund Atavists: Stories — Lydia Mille...
-Anne_Glasgow
"Psychologically intricate and briskly paced." —Kirkus Reviews
"A sensitive and insightful novel ... Impressively moving." —Shelf Awareness
"Master prose stylist Porter expertly evokes the heady atmosphere of Steven's memories while sharply rendering the costs of the 'imagined life' that Steven has clung to ever since." —Booklist
"Atmospheric, kaleidoscopic, and cinematic, Andrew Porter's The Imagined Life captures the ineffable quality of childhood memory with startling precision. Told in sparse yet dreamlike prose, and set against the alluring tapestry of 1980s academia—alive with intellect, ambition, and unspoken tensions—this soul-stirring novel reveals how childhood wounds linger beneath the surface of adulthood, shaping who we are long after we've forgotten why." —Lidija Hilje, author of Slanting Towards the Sea
"Stylish, nostalgic, and quietly devastating, The Imagined Life is a haunting meditation on memory, inheritance, and the fragile architectures of family." —Saleem Haddad, author of Guapa
This information about The Imagined Life was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Andrew Porter is the author of the story collections The Disappeared and The Theory of Light and Matter and the novel In Between Days. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has received a Pushcart Prize, a James Michener/Copernicus Fellowship, and the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. His short story "Angelo" was selected by Celeste Ng for the 2025 Best American Short Stories, and his work has appeared in One Story, Ploughshares, American Short Fiction, Narrative, The Southern Review, and on public radio's Selected Shorts. Currently, he teaches fiction writing and directs the creative writing program at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.
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