Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published in USA
Apr 2011
384 pages
Genre: Novels
Publication Information
The Tragedy of Arthur is an emotional and elaborately constructed tour de force from bestselling and critically acclaimed novelist Arthur Phillips.
Its doomed hero is Arthur Phillips, a young man struggling with a larger-than-life father, a con artist who works wonders of deception but is a most unreliable parent. Arthur is raised in an enchanted world of smoke and mirrors where the only unshifting truth is his father's and his beloved twin sister's deep and abiding love for the works of William Shakespeare - a love so pervasive that Arthur becomes a writer in a misguided bid for their approval and affection.
Years later, Arthur's father, imprisoned for decades and nearing the end of his life, shares with Arthur a treasure he's kept secret for half a century: a previously unknown play by Shakespeare, titled The Tragedy of Arthur. But Arthur and his sister also inherit their father's mission: to see the play published and acknowledged as the Bard's last great gift to humanity....
Unless it's their father's last great con.
By turns hilarious and haunting, this virtuosic novel - which includes Shakespeare's (?) lost King Arthur play in its five-act entirety - captures the very essence of romantic and familial love and betrayal. The Tragedy of Arthur explores the tension between storytelling and truth-telling, the thirst for originality in all our lives, and the act of literary mythmaking, both now and four centuries ago, as the two Arthurs - Arthur the novelist and Arthur the ancient king - play out their individual but strangely intertwined fates.
Click to the right or left of the sample to turn the page.
(If no book jacket appears in a few seconds, then we don't have an excerpt of this book or your browser is unable to display it)
"Starred Review and Editor's Pick. Highly recommended for all who enjoy inspired, original, entertaining writing." - Library Journal
"It's a tricky project, funny and brazen, smart and playful." - Publishers Weekly
"The always-original Phillips has outdone himself in this clever literary romp." - Booklist
"The text of Arthur demonstrates that there are few limits to Mr Phillips's imagination." - Robert McCrum, The Guardian (UK)
"A funny, sad, absurd, moving, and very, very smart book. I don't know if it's fiction or non-fiction or both or neither, and ultimately it's irrelevant." - James Frey, national bestselling author of A Million Little Pieces
"A tour de force - clever, rueful, full of insight, and, as always, stuffed with amazing prose. Arthur Phillips can legitimately stake a claim to being one of the best and most daring and original of novelists." - Dan Chaon, national bestselling author of Await Your Reply
The information about The Tragedy of Arthur shown above was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's online-magazine that keeps our members abreast of notable and high-profile books publishing in the coming weeks. In most cases, the reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the reviews shown do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, please send us a message with the mainstream media reviews that you would like to see added.
Arthur Phillips was born in Minneapolis in 1969 and educated at Harvard. He
has been a child actor, a jazz musician, a speechwriter, a dismally failed
entrepreneur, and a five-time Jeopardy! champion.
His first novel, Prague, a national bestseller, was named a New York
Times Notable Book, and received The Los Angeles Times/Art Seidenbaum Award for
best first novel. His second novel, The Egyptologist, was a national and
international bestseller, and was on more than a dozen “Best of 2004” lists.
His other novels include Angelica, The Song Is You, and The Tragedy of Arthur. His work has been translated into over twenty
languages.
He lives in New York with his wife and two sons.
Become a Member and discover books that entertain, engage & enlighten!
The Library of Light and Shadow by M.J. Rose
"Possibly her best yet. A sensuous, sumptuous, and spellbinding novel." - Kirkus Reviews
The Necklace
by Claire McMillan
For readers of The Nest, the intelligent, intoxicating story of long-simmering family secrets.
Reader Reviews
In the spirit of The Aviator's Wife, this resonant debut spans from World War II through the Vietnam War.
About the bookVisitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends books that we believe to be best in class. Books that will whisk you to faraway places and times, that will expand your mind and challenge you -- the kinds of books you just can't wait to tell your friends about.
Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info & giveaways by email.
