American Purgatorio
"I'm from Chicago originally. I went to New York, married a girl named Anne, and was in the middle of living happily ever after when something happened."
So begins John Haskell's mesmerizing first novel, American Purgatorio, the story of a happily married man who discovers, as he walks out of a convenience store, that his life has suddenly vanished. In cool, precise prose, written as both a detective story and a meditation on the seven deadly sins, Haskell tells a story that is by turns tragic and comic, compassionate and gripping. From the brownstones of New York City to the sandy beaches of Southern California, American Purgatorio follows the journey of a man whose object of desire is both heartbreaking and ephemeral. It confirms John Haskell's reputation as one of our most intriguing new writers, "one of those rare authors who makes language seem limitless in its possibilities" (Susan Reynolds, Los Angeles Times)
"Turn the last page, and you'll realize that this strange, moving book has done just what a first novel should: it has left an impression."
―Taylor Antrim, New York Times
"The complex and sometimes comical plot keep the reader glued to every page until the astonishing ending. Highly recommended."
―Library Journal
“Make no mistake: this is not an ordinary novel . . . [it's] a literary affirmation of fiction's potential to go beyond mere scene . . . and tap into the deepest roots of human motive.”
―San Francisco Chronicle
“Gutsy, weirdly engrossing . . . Turn the last page and you'll realize that this strange, moving book has done just what a first novel should: It has left an impression.”
―The New York Times Book Review
"American Purgatorio is a serious, admirable novel, well worth reading."
―Washington Post
"A strange and brainy first novel....Haskell has an ear for the banal, and his narrator relates the language he overhears and the behavior he witnesses with a deadpan, almost emo earnestness. But Haskell can also be...a careful dissector of emotion and spirit....American Purgatorio gets at the big questions, like love and death, while still being mysterious and amusing and deeply original."
―Anna Godbersen, Esquire