- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday (Jun 15 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385527691
- ISBN-13: 978-0385527699
- Product Dimensions: 16.1 x 3.2 x 24.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 113 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #466,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
PRAISE FOR CAROLYN PARKHURST
"Parkhurst's chief gift as a novelist is her ability to seize the innermost thoughts of her characters, then convey them with meticulous craft." —Seattle Times
PRAISE FOR THE NOBODIES ALBUM
"As she did in The Dogs of Babel, with its human protagonist trying to coax forth information from his dog, Ms. Parkhurst once again proves that she writes with crisp precision but can also make heads spin."
--The New York Times
"In The Nobodies Album, with a light but sure hand, Carolyn Parkhurst joins together four disparate literary forms: the family drama, the short story, the philosophical essay on language and, yes, the whodunit. Her weave is smooth, a vigorous hybrid of the old-fashioned, the modern and the postmodern. She reminds is what an act of will and imagination it has always taken for a writer to convert nobodies into somebodies in any genre, whether at the desk or in the world."
--The New York Times Book Review
"The Nobodies Album is brisk and engaging…[it] succeeds in probing nuanced issues of guilt and innocence through an intricate collage of memories and musings…”
--The Washington Post
“The best-selling author of The Dogs of Babel returns with a fascinating, can’t-put-it-down murder mystery.”
--Redbook Magazine
"[A] pinhole glimpse into the mind of a fascinating woman for whom life and fiction are stitched tightly together."
--Entertainment Weekly
“As novelist Octavia Frost seeks to gain her son’s forgiveness and the investigation into the murder of his girlfriend reveals surprising information, the narrative cuts away to excerpts of Octavia’s new book, adding layers of emotional complexity to the story of their family life. In a stunning blend of craft and ingenuity, Carolyn Parkhurst (author of The Dogs of Babel) makes the excerpts far more than a mere metafictional exercise, for they prove to be as riveting and as dramatic as the main story line.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Carolyn Parkhurst’s voice sucks the reader in immediately—the gift of a real storyteller.”
—Publishers Weekly
"Parkhurst's chief gift as a novelist is her ability to seize the innermost thoughts of her characters, then convey them with meticulous craft." —Seattle Times
PRAISE FOR THE NOBODIES ALBUM
"As she did in The Dogs of Babel, with its human protagonist trying to coax forth information from his dog, Ms. Parkhurst once again proves that she writes with crisp precision but can also make heads spin."
--The New York Times
"In The Nobodies Album, with a light but sure hand, Carolyn Parkhurst joins together four disparate literary forms: the family drama, the short story, the philosophical essay on language and, yes, the whodunit. Her weave is smooth, a vigorous hybrid of the old-fashioned, the modern and the postmodern. She reminds is what an act of will and imagination it has always taken for a writer to convert nobodies into somebodies in any genre, whether at the desk or in the world."
--The New York Times Book Review
"The Nobodies Album is brisk and engaging…[it] succeeds in probing nuanced issues of guilt and innocence through an intricate collage of memories and musings…”
--The Washington Post
“The best-selling author of The Dogs of Babel returns with a fascinating, can’t-put-it-down murder mystery.”
--Redbook Magazine
"[A] pinhole glimpse into the mind of a fascinating woman for whom life and fiction are stitched tightly together."
--Entertainment Weekly
“As novelist Octavia Frost seeks to gain her son’s forgiveness and the investigation into the murder of his girlfriend reveals surprising information, the narrative cuts away to excerpts of Octavia’s new book, adding layers of emotional complexity to the story of their family life. In a stunning blend of craft and ingenuity, Carolyn Parkhurst (author of The Dogs of Babel) makes the excerpts far more than a mere metafictional exercise, for they prove to be as riveting and as dramatic as the main story line.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Carolyn Parkhurst’s voice sucks the reader in immediately—the gift of a real storyteller.”
—Publishers Weekly
Book Description
From the bestselling author of The Dogs of Babel comes a dazzling literary mystery about the lengths to which some people will go to rewrite their past.
Bestselling novelist Octavia Frost has just completed her latest book—a revolutionary novel in which she has rewritten the last chapters of all her previous books, removing clues about her personal life concealed within, especially a horrific tragedy that befell her family years ago.
On her way to deliver the manuscript to her editor, Octavia reads a news crawl in Times Square and learns that her rock-star son, Milo, has been arrested for murder. Though she and Milo haven’t spoken in years—an estrangement stemming from that tragic day—she drops everything to go to him.
The “last chapters” of Octavia’s novel are layered throughout The Nobodies Album—the scattered puzzle pieces to her and Milo’s dark and troubled past. Did she drive her son to murder? Did Milo murder anyone at all? And what exactly happened all those years ago? As the novel builds to a stunning reveal, Octavia must consider how this story will come to a close.
Universally praised for her candid explorations of the human psyche, Parkhurst delivers an emotionally gripping and resonant mystery about a mother and her son, and about the possibility that one can never truly know another person.
Bestselling novelist Octavia Frost has just completed her latest book—a revolutionary novel in which she has rewritten the last chapters of all her previous books, removing clues about her personal life concealed within, especially a horrific tragedy that befell her family years ago.
On her way to deliver the manuscript to her editor, Octavia reads a news crawl in Times Square and learns that her rock-star son, Milo, has been arrested for murder. Though she and Milo haven’t spoken in years—an estrangement stemming from that tragic day—she drops everything to go to him.
The “last chapters” of Octavia’s novel are layered throughout The Nobodies Album—the scattered puzzle pieces to her and Milo’s dark and troubled past. Did she drive her son to murder? Did Milo murder anyone at all? And what exactly happened all those years ago? As the novel builds to a stunning reveal, Octavia must consider how this story will come to a close.
Universally praised for her candid explorations of the human psyche, Parkhurst delivers an emotionally gripping and resonant mystery about a mother and her son, and about the possibility that one can never truly know another person.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Clever vehicle for a look at relationships,
By
This review is from: The Nobodies Album: A Novel (Hardcover)
The Nobodies Album is the first book I've read by Carolyn Parkhurst.Author Octavia Frost has been estranged from her rock star son Milo for over 4 years. Milo and Octavia's rift stems from a family tragedy - the fallout never resolved. When Milo is accused of murdering his girlfriend Bettina, Octavia reaches out to help him. But, Milo can't remember anything of the night Bettina died. The book Octavia is currently working on is a collection of rewritten endings for her seven published novels. I found this book within a book within a book vehicle extremely clever. The original stories were engaging and changing the endings even more so. Each of the narratives related to the main story and gave us subtle hints and understanding of the unspoken tragedy. "In a way this is what I've been waiting for - a chance to explain. Well to explain what, I'm not sure. That I'm changing my legacy, if I can be grand enough to call it that and that in some convoluted way I'm doing it for him, that I've written myself into my books and I have some kind of overly literal idea that by changing the books I can write a new ending for myself." Although the whodunit is easily solved, it was only a small part of the book for me. It was the character of Octavia that captured my interest. The book is told from her perspective in first person narrative. We are privy to all of her hurts, doubts and emotions concerning her life. Perhaps it is because we are restricted to Octavia's voice that I really never engaged with the other supporting characters, even Milo. But that being said, it is a book I thoroughly enjoyed.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (49 customer reviews) 29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The End?,
By Nicole Del Sesto - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Nobodies Album: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
There's a lot going on in this book.The framework that sort of houses the multi-layered story is somewhat of a murder mystery. It's not the strongest part of the story (in my opinion) but definitely works to house the rest of the story: What's most important ... the relating and the relationships. Olivia Frost, a fairly successful author, has decided that her 8th novel should be new endings for her previous seven books. She's estranged from her rock-star son, until he's accused of murder, and they have tragedy in their family history. The details of their past, and snippets of each of the "alternate endings" are woven throughout the book. Reading the "endings" was like having short stories in the midst of a novel, and though I hated being jarred out of the main story, I really enjoyed those parts and as with most short stories, they were over just as I was wishing there was more. Parkhurst does grief and family dynamics so well. There are scenes between the mother and son that are so relatable to me, I felt she could have plucked them right out of my own dialog. There's darkness and sadness, and a little bit of humor. The writing is great, and as with Parkhurst's previous novels, she really creates atmosphere and emotion. It's a really fast-paced read. I enjoyed it immensely, and will now begin the wait for Parkhurt's next, and hoping it won't be a terribly long wait. 15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
On Motherhood And Murder: Changing The Ending Doesn't Automatically Change The Story,
By K. Harris "Film aficionado" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Nobodies Album: A Novel (Hardcover)
Carolyn Parkhurst's "The Nobodies Album" is, on the surface, a fairly routine murder mystery. But describing it as such is to shortchange the complexities of this unique, uncompromising, and pretty wonderful novel. In addition to the central mystery, Parkhurst delivers one of the most searing and unflinching looks at familial alienation one is likely to encounter. Layered into an unconventional literary narrative, "The Nobodies Album" confronts how people cope with tragedy and how they can come to terms with and struggle to change the existence they've fallen into. Meaningful and emotionally satisfying, I ended up feeling that the central plot device (the murder itself and its resolution) to be the least compelling thing about the book.Centered around a famous novelist Octavia Frost, "The Nobodies Album" explores her troubled relationship with her son Milo. When Milo, a renowned alt-rocker in San Francisco, discovers his fiancée brutally murdered after a night in which he has blacked out--he finds himself the prime suspect in the international media circus that follows. Having been estranged from Milo for many years, Octavia sees this as a chance for reconnection and redemption. The two share a difficult past, their relationship never having fully recovered from the accidental death of Octavia's husband and daughter. And it is the tentative progress of their bond that propels the heart of Parkhurst's story. The grand success of "The Nobodies Album" rests on the character of Octavia Frost. Maddening and emotionally distant, it is her struggle to try to put the past into a meaningful context that drives the narrative. In alternate chapters, we are treated to various excerpts from her past novels in addition to their newly revised endings. Her current project (the titular experiment called "The Nobodies Album") is to alter these pages to reflect her current state of mind--and, in a way, erase some of the more personal and painful aspects of herself from the books. But dealing with Milo in the present showcases the importance of building on and confronting past mistakes as opposed to trying to make them disappear. Octavia is a difficult character to love, or even like, and yet I identified with her in a thousand ways. Parkhurst doesn't shy away from the unpleasant aspects of her personality and, in being so frank, has created a character that will endure in my memory for many months to come. 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Parkhurst's Worlds,
By Jeanne Kern "author of DESTINATION: LOVE--AND... - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Nobodies Album: A Novel (Hardcover)
Other reviewers have referred to the murder mystery as the central plot point and thus what the book is about. It isn't. The mystery is secondary, and the genius of this book is Parkhurst's ability to once again give us a wealth of characters, each of whom she makes mulit-faceted for the readers. Central is the writer, of course, and we discover her as layers and layers peel away. She, like all Parkhurst's characters is deliciously complex. The novels she has "written" and the reasons she wants to revisit them and the ways they relate to what we are learning about her life--Pure Delight.Character development, quirky and original plots, and simply beautiful writing are the prizes waiting for readers of Parkhurst. I adore all three of Parkhurst's books, and I recommend them with virtual applause. |
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