Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Apr 2012
244 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
'She was always in many places at once, invested deeply in a hundred different notions, and of all the things I liked about Saskia that was the thing I liked most'.
One snowy morning in an old European capital, a man wakes in a hotel room. A young local woman he has befriended calls to the hotel, and the two of them head out into the snow to find the man an apartment to rent. Greg Baxter's astonishing first novel tells the story of these two people on this day - and the old stories that brought them to where they are. Its magically subtle and intense narrative takes them across the frozen city and into the past that the man is hoping to escape, and leaves them at the doorstep of an uncertain future.
"The Apartment" is a book about war, the relationship between America and the rest of the world, and the brittle foundations of Western culture; but above all it is a book about the mysteries and alchemies of friendship - truthful, moving and brilliant.
"A very smart novel that recognizes the limits of intelligence and the distortions of memory." - Kirkus Reviews
"Baxter's thoughtful, quietly penetrating book is for those seeking more than a quick read." - Library Journal
"Imagine you're on a roller-coaster ... suddenly, without warning, it tips vertiginously, so quickly that your chest constricts and while you're there, suspended, momentarily, at the apex of this roller-coaster, you're aware suddenly of a kind of clarity, a totally new perspective on everything below. Greg Baxter's The Apartment is a bit like this ... Full of unshowy wisdom and surprising moments of beauty." - The Sunday Telegraph (UK)
"Admirable for its scope, ambition and unashamed seriousness of purpose, as well as its willingness to take stylistic and structural risks." - The Observer (UK)
"Baxter's superbly elegant, understated writing explores the dynamics of America's relationship with the rest of the world." - The Times (UK)
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Greg Baxter was born and raised in Texas. Over the last twenty years, he has lived variously in Ireland, England, Austria, Chicago, Louisiana, and Germany. In 2010 he published his first book, the critically acclaimed A Preparation for Death. He now lives in Berlin, where he writes and translates.
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