false 4789658 1 With his debut novel, <i>Samedi the Deafness</i>, Jesse Ball emerged as one of our most extraordinary new writers. Now, Ball returns with this haunting tale of love and storytelling, hope and identity.<br><br>When Selah Morse sees a young woman get hit by a speeding taxicab, he rushes her to the hospital. The girl has lost her memory; she is delirious and has no identification, so Selah poses as her boyfriend. She is released into his care, but the doctor charges him to keep her awake, and to help her remember her past. Through the long night, he tells her stories, inventing and inventing, trying to get closer to what might be true, and hoping she will recognize herself in one of his tales. Offering up moments of pure insight and unexpected, exuberant humor, <b>The Way Through Doors</b><i> </i>demonstrates Jesse Ball's great artistry and gift for and narrative. 4854573 10 2 2009 The Way Through Doors (Vintage Contemporaries) total:181|5:43|4:70|3:38|2:18|1:12| 181 657 431 63 4 1 false false Wed Apr 15 12:44:01 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 12:44:01 -0700 2009 Critics described The Way Through Doors as experimental fiction at its very finest. Loath to pigeonhole the novel, some nonetheless compared aspects of it to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Paul Auster's New York trilogy, and novels by Franz Kafka and Kazuo Ishiguro. Certainly, the work is disorie...

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In an inversion of the Scheherazade legend, the hero of this dizzyingly circuitous novel must tell stories all night to a beautiful amnesiac, to keep her awake and alive. He begins by explaining himself: he writes pamphlets (s...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Feb 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 29 11:21:51 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 10:24:31 -0800 2009
Again, one of the best books I've read since I was born.

Words that describe the experience of reading The Way Through Doors<i/> by Jesse Ball: fanciful, enlivening, refreshing, strange (with a positive connotation), dreamlike, wise, playful, eternal...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 12:10:05 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 20:44:37 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Feb 11 10:20:43 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 10:21:36 -0800 2009
From the Flavorpill "Boldtype" e-newsletter:
Jesse Ball loves tall tales. In his award-winning fictions and poems, he has consistently explored the powers of myths, fables, and outright lies — most notably in his acclaimed...more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Sep 10 10:10:29 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 10:12:42 -0700 2009 Publishers Weekly via Amazon.C...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jun 18 21:12:45 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 21:12:45 -0700 2009 The New Yorker: "In an inversion of the Scheherazade legend, the hero of this dizzyingly circuitous novel must tell stories all night to a beautiful amnesiac, to keep her awake and alive. He begins by explaining himself: he writes pamphlets (sample title: ‘An Inquiry into the Ultimate Utility...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon May 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 09:02:57 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 10:53:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 12:07:27 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 08:41:35 -0700 2009
...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jul 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 14:01:14 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 17:45:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jun 04 17:05:40 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 17:05:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Feb 14 16:27:05 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 16:29:03 -0800 2009 Samedi the Deafness was supposed to be kinda lame, but this sounds freaking great. From the Boldtype review:

A funhouse of fictions, the novel is full of sudden doorways, with each room cluttered with the caprices of Selah's imagination; but it is also a fable, with mor...more...]]> 5 0 true false Sat Feb 14 10:25:24 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 10:26:07 -0800 2009
Again, one of the best books I've read since I was born.

Words that describe the experience of reading The Way Through Doors<i/> by Jesse Ball: fanciful, enlivening, refreshing, strange (with a positive connotation), dreamlike, wise, playful, eternal...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 10:00:31 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 10:15:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 06:39:58 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 07:05:42 -0700 2009
Jesse Ball, poet by p...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jul 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 20:23:56 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 09:29:24 -0700 2009
The ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 01 09:04:29 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 04:48:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 20 15:38:14 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 15:42:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 14:09:46 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 14:13:33 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Mar 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 17:34:27 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 07:50:44 -0700 2009 more...]]>