jamiereadthis
Written on Mar 27, 2020
'This is an exceptional work of fiction, which places Greenwell among the very best contemporary novelists.' - Independent
Sofia, Bulgaria, a landlocked city in southern Europe, stirs with hope and impending upheaval. Soviet buildings crumble, wind scatters sand from the far south, and political protesters flood the streets with song.
In this atmosphere of disquiet, an American teacher navigates a life transformed by the discovery and loss of love. As he prepares to leave the place he's come to call home, he grapples with the intimate encounters that have marked his years abroad, each bearing uncanny reminders of his past. A queer student's confession recalls his own first love, a stranger's seduction devolves into paternal sadism, and a romance with a younger man opens, and heals, old wounds. Each echo reveals startling insights about what it means to seek connection: with those we love, with the places we inhabit, and with our own fugitive selves.
Cleanness revisits and expands the world of Garth Greenwell's beloved debut, What Belongs to You, declared 'an instant classic' by the New York Times Book Review. In exacting, elegant prose, Greenwell transcribes the strange dialects of desire, cementing his stature as one of our most vital living writers.
- ISBN10 0374124582
- ISBN13 9780374124588
- Publish Date 14 January 2020 (first published 21 January 2012)
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Imprint Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 240
- Language English
Reviews