<![CDATA[The Manual of Detection]]>

false <![CDATA[The Manual of Detection]]>

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In this tightly plotted yet mind-expanding debut novel, an unlikely detective, armed only with an umbrella and a singular handbook, must untangle a string of crimes committed in and through people’s dreams. * * * In an unnamed city always slick with rain, Charles Unwin toils as a clerk at a huge, imperious detective agency. All he knows about solving mysteries comes from the reports he's filed for the illustrious detective Travis Sivart. When Sivart goes missing and his supervisor turns up murdered, Unwin is suddenly promoted to detective, a rank for which he lacks both the skills and the stomach. His only guidance comes from his new assistant, who would be perfect if she weren't so sleepy, and from the pithy yet profound Manual of Detection. Unwin mounts his search for Sivart, but is soon framed for murder, pursued by goons and gunmen, and confounded by the infamous femme fatale Cleo Greenwood. Meanwhile, strange and troubling questions proliferate: why does the mummy at the Municipal Museum have modern-day dental work? Where have all the city's alarm clocks gone? Why is Unwin's copy of the Manual missing Chapter 18? And will it ever stop raining? When he discovers that Sivart's greatest cases—including The Three Deaths of Colonel Baker and The Man who Stole November 12th—were solved incorrectly, Unwin must enter the dreams of a murdered man and face a criminal mastermind bent on total control of a slumbering city. The Manual of Detection will draw comparison to every work of imaginative fiction that ever blew a reader's mind—from Carlos Ruiz Zafón to Jorge Luis Borges, from The Big Sleep to The Yiddish Policeman's Union. But, ultimately, it defies comparison; it is a brilliantly conceived, meticulously realized novel that will change what you think about how you think. "I was impressed, besotted, and transported by The Manual of Detection. Such a great book! Surprising and completely satisfying, with mythic images and precise sentences. I wish I'd written it, but I'm almost as happy just to have read it." —Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club and Wit's End "Inventive, atmospheric, and fiendishly delightful. If you've ever fallen under the spell of Borges, Ray Bradbury, or Angela Carter, I urge you to acquire your own copy of The Manual of Detection." —Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners and Pretty Monsters "I feel like I found the thesis Encyclopedia Brown wrote after he grew up and went to Hogwarts. Except that in parts it's like the movie Brazil. I don't know whether there's a plan for a sequel, but I want more." —Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh

4183074

2009

The Manual of Detection

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4 4 false false Wed Mar 18 08:12:24 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 08:24:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Mar 06 07:36:04 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 07:39:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Mar 06 07:02:00 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 13 20:03:28 -0700 2009 Full disclosure: I've never written a review of a book by someone I know (hi Jeb!)

I hate reading reviews of analogy ("If Voxtrot teamed up with Paul Simon, they'd have formed Vampire Weekend!") but have a weakness for writing them. So if I was asked to write a short blurb for ...more...]]> 5 2 false false Thu Jan 29 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 11:16:56 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 11:17:54 -0800 2009 2 1 false false Mon Mar 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 19:11:35 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 19:12:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 08:34:46 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 11:44:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jun 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 12:57:15 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 04:49:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 08:23:26 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 10:55:36 -0700 2009 once most unusual book! I started out determined to make sense of everything and keep it in order, but after just a few pages gave up and just let the sheer hallucinogenic, vertiginous pleasure of the words and action wash over me! This is not like any detective story you have...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 07:05:33 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 21:22:43 -0700 2009 The Manual of Detection is an enjoyable detective story. At its best, it easily captures the surreal qualities of a waking dream, leaving the reader questioning whether the characters are awake, or merely dreaming that they are.

I find that ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 22:35:26 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 22:45:18 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 01 07:23:43 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 08:12:36 -0700 2009 The comparisons used by critics in describing The Manual of Detection—Borges! Chesterton! Bradbury! Kafka! Lynch! Gilliam!ómay seem overblown. But this list of literary (and cinematic) heavy hitters may not be hyperbolic praise so much as the only means available to explain how a book that initia...

more...]]> 4 0 false true Wed Apr 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 21:21:45 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 21:36:05 -0700 2009 Audible.com on a lark. I had not heard of the author since this is his debut novel. I can’t even tell you what made me click on the link…but I’m glad I did!

If you haven’t seen it, the short synopsis of the book is that a clerk who usually manages the paperw...more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 19:37:09 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 19:48:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Mar 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Feb 22 17:42:03 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 25 16:42:28 -0700 2009 Bold Type just went live, but since they don't seem to be archiving the new material I'll just go ahead and post the whole review below. Here goes:

The Manual of Detection is a mystery in the purest sense of the word: elusive, strange, and immensely compelling. Though Jededia...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Sep 30 13:52:28 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 13:55:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 05:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 17:42:57 -0700 2009 Gun, With Occasional Music and my recently devoured copy of Charles Stross' Halting State.

This is an awesome book from an author I...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Mar 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 18:25:09 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 18:25:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 07 16:23:12 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 13:42:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 13:36:09 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 13:38:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 17:40:41 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 17:50:01 -0700 2009 more...]]>