Murray, Paul

This is a big, multilayered book full of secrets and surprises. But not a word is wasted in this unsettling, character-rich, devilishly plotted page-turner.

Murray's follow-up to his incomparable Skippy Dies reinforces his reputation as one of the most surprising and inventive storytellers writing today. Morally authoritative and laugh-out-loud funny, this book is essential reading. [See Prepub Alert, 4/27/15; "Editors' Fall Picks," LJ 9/1/15.]

Murray's second novel (after An Evening of Long Goodbyes) is almost flawless, a gift for fans of character and plot. In addition to his masterly use of James Joyce and Robert Graves throughout, Murray has created a social realism that holds its own with that of Dickens. Skippy Dies deserves to be widely read and loved. [Also available as a three-volume paperback boxed set, ISBN 978-0-86547-948-7, $30; see Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/10.]