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Wittgenstein's Mistress

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( 7,172 ratings, 1,025 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson is a thought-provoking novel that follows the reflections of a woman who believes she is the last person on Earth. As she resides in an abandoned world, she muses over art, history, and philosophy, inviting readers into her fragmented yet profound stream of consciousness. The narrative explores themes of solitude and existence, blending intellectual discourse with emotional depth.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$4700

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate experimental narratives and philosophical musings. It's a compelling read that explores themes of isolation and the nature of reality, all through the voice of an intriguing, solitary protagonist. Perfect for those who relish a blend of introspection and abstract storytelling.

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Previous second paperback edition: 1995.

Print and digital publicity targeting The New Yorker, The Paris Review, NPR, The Atlantic, Bookforum, Los Angeles Times, New York Review of Books, London Review of Books, New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation Promotion and outreach to university literature departments Review copies sent targeting all major print and digital literary media outlets, reviewers, and booksellers; additional copies available upon request Promotion on publisher’s website and social media; promotion via e-newsletters to booksellers, reviewers

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Wittgenstein's Mistress is a novel unlike anything David Markson or anyone else has ever written before. It is the story of a woman who is convinced and, astonishingly, will ultimately convince the reader as well that she is the only person left on earth.

Presumably she is mad. And yet so appealing is her character, and so witty and seductive her narrative voice, that we will follow her hypnotically as she unloads the intellectual baggage of a lifetime in a series of irreverent meditations on everything and everybody from Brahms to sex to Heidegger to Helen of Troy. As she contemplates aspects of the troubled past which have brought her to her present stateβ€”obviously a metaphor for ultimate lonelinessβ€”so too will her drama become one of the few certifiably original fictions of our time.

'The novel I liked best this year,' said the Washington Times upon the book's publication; 'one dizzying, delightful, funny passage after another...Wittgenstein's Mistress gives proof positive that the experimental novel can produce high, pure works of imagination.'

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    Wittgenstein's Mistress is a novel unlike anything David Markson or anyone else has ever written before. It is the story of a woman who is convinced and, astonishingly, will ultimately convince the reader as well that she is the only person left on earth. Presumably she is mad. And yet so appealing is her character, and so witty and seductive...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson is lauded as a groundbreaking and intellectually stimulating novel, praised for its brilliant prose and captivating narrative voice. It draws comparisons to literary giants like Joyce and Beckett, admired for its wit and philosophical depth. Reviewers highlight its unique style, describing it as both calming and thrilling, and applaud its artistic innovation and compelling emotional impact.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781628973914

Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 May 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: Dalkey Archive Press

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 248

About the Author

David Markson's novel Wittgenstein's Mistress was acclaimed by David Foster Wallace as "pretty much the high point of experimental fiction in this country." His other novels, including Reader's Block, Springer's Progress, and Vanishing Point, have expanded this high reputation. His novel The Ballad of Dingus Magee was made into the film Dirty Dingus Magee, which starred Frank Sinatra, and he is also the author of three crime novels. Born in Albany, New York, he lived in New York City until his death in 2010.

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