- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Grove Atlantic Press; Reprint edition (Jun 6 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0802142001
- ISBN-13: 978-0802142009
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14.2 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,097,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
That 23-year-old Katherine Shea is an unreliable narrator is evident from the first pages of Murray's mesmerizing new novel (after the PEN/Faulkner Award–winning story collection, The Caprices). As she describes the way she picks up hapless author Boris Naryshkin on the Manhattan subway, coolly manipulates and moves in with him, drains him of money and sleeps with other men, Katherine's lack of conscience and absence of affect obviously go beyond neurotic and into psychotic territory. Yet she is intelligent and witty in her solipsistic explanation of her needs and behavior, even as she hints at the manifestations of her mother's insanity and reveals the margins of her own unstable personality. Her fascination with cannibalism, and her deep familiarity with its depiction in art (Goya, Gericault), literature (Dante, Poe, Melville), folklore (Hansel and Gretel, the Tale of Bisclaveret) and history (the Donner Party, the voyage of the Essex) is revealed in tandem with the events of a journey that takes her across the country from New York to Mexico, with crucial scenes played out in a cottage in Maine. Katherine's hegira becomes increasingly sinister, and Murray paces her psychological thriller with consummate control, keeping the reader enthralled through subtle suggestion and a scattering of grisly details. But the author has a darker purpose. More than the story of one deranged woman's obsession, the novel and its brilliant subtext hint at the ways American society devours the weak, while building a case for a blood hunger in human nature. The tension of the last chapter is followed by a grim suspicion; the reader will go back to the first pages to confirm the worst.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Pursuit of the flesh reaches prickly proportions in this seductive thriller by PEN/Faulkner-winner Murray. After a year spent in Italy, 23-year-old free spirit Katherine Shea returns to the U.S and begins an affair with Boris, an unremarkable, middle-aged Russian novelist. Restless within the relationship, Katherine ventures out on her own, encountering two men who meet violent ends: one, the victim of a serial killer who bit a chunk out of his prey's cheek; the other, savaged by a coyote as he slept in his truck. Intrigued and disturbed by the slayings, Katherine begins to ponder cannibalism in literature and art, from the rapacious Count Ugolino in Dante's Inferno to the bloody tale behind Romantic painter Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa. The string of murders continues, revealing the truth--and consequences--of Katherine's preoccupation with the perverse. "Were we not all cannibals," she asks, "dispensing with the defenseless, concerned only with our own survival?" Not for the easily queasy, this is a dark meditation on the vagaries that dwell beneath civilization's veneer. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Unlikable Heroine" equals brilliant novel,
By C.M. Wiggins (Sarasota, FL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Carnivore's Inquiry (Hardcover)
I don't understand why someone believes that an "unlikable" heroine equals an unlikable book. It isn't critquing the work or valid criticism; it is instead an oversimplified and childish approach to literature. Such readers would probably dismiss "King Lear" as too depressing and therefore not worth reading. Murray's novel is a dark and brilliant treatise on cannabalism disguised as an equally dark and brilliant novel about a young woman's search for identity. I found Katherine, in fact, to be a deeply empathetic character. Who hasn't gone through a part of their life feeling aliented and alone, certain every relationship will end badly? Most of the reviews of this novel dwell on the question of whether or not Katherine is a likable charcter. It is a sad state of affairs indeed when whether or not a character in a novel is likable is used to decide the quality of the book. I only hope that most readers will see past such simplistic criticisms and enjoy the novel for what it is. Murray has written a wickedly entertaing book and has crafted an intriguing heroine. Highly recommended.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Somewhat tasteful, but definitely predictable,
By
This review is from: A Carnivore's Inquiry (Hardcover)
For the most part, this was an "average" novel. Murray has a way of mesmerizing the reader with her use of words and references to actual works of art and literature; diving into the hidden meaning behind all of our "animal instincts" and motives/hungers. As much as the reader would like to side with their morals, it is hard to argue with the main character's (Katherine) reasoning for the thirst of gore and blood. You have no excuse but to accept the main theme of cannibalism as acceptable through her eyes.None of the characters are given reason to be cared for exceptionally, including Katherine--altho you have to admire her in-depth knowledge and ferocious attachment to symbolism. Not any one character is likeable. Nor is any event in the storyline misleading (maybe it should be), as the entire plot is very predictable, even after the climax. The trickling of events do no justice to keep you in suspense, as any reader would already know what the inevitable is. The ending brings the components together, but they were already there without being spelt out. Altogether, this novel was okay. The blood-thirsty theme of it keeps you enthralled to continue reading, but the ending may just leave you wanting more or regretting its reach.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suspenseful, compelling dark comedy,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Carnivore's Inquiry (Hardcover)
The heroine of this compelling dark comedy, Katherine Shea, is unlike any other character in American literature (or World literature, for that matter). Consider her the smart and strange god-child of Angela Carter and Paul Bowles--or Milan Kundera and Jane Bowles. Funnier and more intelligent than--but just as cunning as--Patricia Highsmith's Ripley, with her wry tone, her brilliant meditations on art and exploration, and her fast-paced, sexy, and intimate narration, Katherine will fascinate you--and at times she will frighten you. This novel is a page-turner, and its engaging narrator tells her story with a sense of humor and the confidence to explore any taboo subject. Read it--quickly.
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