The Betrayers - Softcover

Bezmozgis, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0670921580 ISBN 13: 9780670921584

Publisher: Viking Penguin, 2014

Synopsis

The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis: read it in a sitting; remember it for the rest of your life. Two men meet on a park bench in Jerusalem: a politician, on the eve of a controversial stand against his government, and a Mossad agent, sent to dissuade him with the threat of blackmail. Neither backs down. Escaping the furore he's unleashed, the politician and his lover head to Crimea and a resort on the Black Sea to lie low. But the fierce battle between political principles and personal loyalties has followed them to this faded Russian backwater, and a shocking encounter awaits them. In its depiction of a man whose principles are tested to the utmost extremes, The Betrayers cuts to the very heart of our troubled times. "Gripping from the outset, as tightly structured as an intense theatrical experience, this is brilliant". (Tom Rob Smith). "A compelling tale of reckoning. Bezmozgis is a smart, taut writer...He brings alive pre-revolutionary Crimea". (Financial Times). "An impressive novel...Bezmozgis explores the dynamics of mercy, guilt and repentence". (Sunday Times). David Bezmozgis was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1973 and emigrated with his parents to Toronto in 1980. His first novel, The Free World, was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His collection Natasha and Other Stories was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and won the Commonwealth Writers' Regional Prize for First Book. In 2010 he was selected as one of the New Yorker's '20 under 40', celebrating the twenty most promising fiction writers under the age of forty. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages.

About this title

Review:

Gripping from the outset, as tightly structured as an intense theatrical experience, this is brilliant writing. Kotler - uncompromising and comprised - is a fascinating, provocative figure -- Tom Rob Smith A work of high moral seriousness dispatched with a gripping elegance ... Bezmozgis's story of fallen saints and redeemed outcasts is, to put it plainly, the work of a great writer -- Joshua Ferris, author of 'To Rise Again at a Decent Hour' Just when we think we've arrived at the heart of the story's moral complexity, Bezmozgis cuts again and lays bare yet another layer ... one of the foremost writers of his generation -- Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk A compelling tale of reckoning. Bezmozgis is a smart, taut writer ... His sentences make interesting turns; his dialogue bites; and he brings alive pre-revolutionary Crimea, with its glum post-Soviet citizens and purple Yalta onions for sale by the roadside Financial Times A moral thriller ... Bezmozgis is a magician -- Aleksandar Hemon, author of The Lazarus Project Taut, fierce, forensically insightful ... explores the frictions between goodness and kindness, public and private virtue, forgiveness and forgetting. Compulsive and profound -- A D Miller, author of Snowdrops Brilliant, deft depictions of love, of memory, of compassion - and, ultimately, despite its title, of loyalty -- Edith Pearlman, author of Binocular Vision A taut, slim book with a stately tone that makes it feel much larger ... For [a] lively topical discussion of what it means to live a moral life, The Betrayers is just what the doctor ordered Prospect An impressive novel ... Bezmozgis explores the dynamics of mercy, guilt and repentence Sunday Times A vivid novel ... raising questions of integrity, compromise, identity and forgiveness Guardian A brave and ambitious novel ... The Betrayers suggests that Bezmozgis may potentially be one of the most important writers of his generation Independent Compelling. Bezmozgis's deft plotting, atmospheric scene-setting and limpid style remain assured. Each page is a gem Economist Ambitious. Bezmozgis is a fine writer Telegraph An impressive novel ... In unadorned prose, Bezmozgis explores the dynamics of mercy, guilt and repentence Sunday Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Penguin
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0670921580
• ISBN 13: 9780670921584
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1