Poser

- Named one of the Huffington Post's 2015 Books We Can't Wait To Read - §§"Smart and absorbing. . . . Echoes of Steven Millhauser and Tom McCarthy. . . . Probing, witty." - The New York Times Book Review§§"A masterful debut . . . delivered with vaudeville verve." - The Washington Post§§"Darkly funny. . . . A deeply sensitive exploration into matters of identity and authenticity." - Associated Press§§" The Poser is smart and grand and funny, a wonderful fable. Mr. Rubin is a great hope for comic fiction in the 21st century. He's got the spirit and the ear." -Sam Lipsyte§§A hilarious and dazzling debut novel about a master impressionist at risk of losing his true self§§All his life, Giovanni Bernini has possessed an uncanny gift: he can imitate anyone he meets. Honed by his mother at a young age, the talent catapults him from small-town obscurity to stardom.§§As Giovanni describes it, "No one's disguise is perfect. There is in every person, no matter how graceful, a seam, a thread curling out of them. . . . When pulled by the right hands, it will unravel the person entire." As his fame grows, Giovanni encounters a beautiful and enigmatic stage singer, Lucy Starlight-the only person whose thread he cannot find-and becomes increasingly trapped inside his many poses. Ultimately, he must assume the one identity he has never been able to master: his own.§§In the vein of Jonathan Lethem's and Kevin Wilson's playful surrealism, Jacob Rubin's The Poser is the debut of a major literary voice, a masterfully written, deeply original comic novel, and the moving story of a man who must risk everything for the chance to save his life and know true love.§§From the Hardcover edition.