Name: MOUTH TO MOUTH.
Rating: 3.839285714285714 (28 reviews)
ISBN: 9781838955199

ANTOINE. WILSON

MOUTH TO MOUTH.

Antoine Wilson

A successful art dealer confesses the story of his meteoric rise in this “sleek, swift, and graceful” novel “with unexpectedly sharp teeth” (Lauren Groff, New York Times bestselling author). In a first-class lounge at JFK airport, our narrator listens as Jeff Cook, a former classmate he only vaguely remembers, shares the uncanny story of his adult life—a life that changed course years before, the moment he resuscitated a drowning man. Jeff reveals that after that traumatic, galvanizing morning on the beach, he was compelled to learn more about the man whose life he had saved, convinced that their fates were now entwined. But are we agents of our fate—or are we its pawns? Upon discovering that the man is renowned art dealer Francis Arsenault, Jeff begins to surreptitiously visit his Beverly Hills gallery. Although Francis does not seem to recognize him as the man who saved his life, he nevertheless casts his legendary eye on Jeff and sees something worthy. He takes the younger man under his wing, initiating him into his world, where knowledge, taste, and access are currency; a world where value is constantly shifting and calling into question what is real, and what matters. The paths of the two men come together and diverge in dizzying ways until the novel’s staggering ending. Sly, suspenseful, and engrossing, Mouth to Mouth masterfully blurs the line between opportunity and exploitation, self-respect and self-delusion, fact and fiction—exposing the myriad ways we deceive each other, and ourselves.

A Novel

Mouth to Mouth

tori

Fatima Kadri 

While not nearly as thrilling, nor as interesting as our storyteller, Jeff, thinks his life to be, the last line of this book gave me pure chills. So, at least there was that.

A struggling author is stuck at the airport, his flight endlessly delayed. As he kills time at the gate, he bumps into a former classmate of his, Jeff, who is waiting for the same flight. The charismatic Jeff invites the author to drinks in the First Class lounge, and there, swearing him to secrecy, begins telling him the fascinating and disturbing story of his gilded life, starting with a pivotal incident from his youth... Alone on the beach one morning, Jeff notices a swimmer drowning in the rough surf - and so he rescues and resuscitates the unconscious man, before leaving him to the emergency services. But Jeff can't let go of the events of that traumatic day, and he begins to feel compelled to learn more about the man whose life he has saved, convinced that their destinies are now somehow entwined. Upon discovering that the man is the renowned art dealer Francis Arsenault, Jeff begins to surreptitiously visit his Beverly Hills gallery, eventually applying there for a job. Although Francis doesn't seem to recognize him, he nevertheless casts his legendary eye over Jeff and sees something of worth - and so he initiates him into his world of unimaginable power and wealth, where knowledge, taste and access are currency, and the value of things is constantly shifting, constantly calling into question what is real, and what matters. As Jeff finds himself seduced by the lifestyle, he pursues a deeper connection with Francis, until morals become expendable and their relationship becomes ever darker, leaving him to wonder... should he have just let Francis drown?

Fraser Simons

Two familiar, but closer to strangers, share a conversation where one divulges the trajectory of his life being radically altered after saving a drowning man and subsequently becoming consumed with the idea of knowing who and what he is responsible for after the act. In the doing, disingenuously inserting himself into the man’s life. 

I have always been somewhat terrified of the notion that you don’t know who you really are until opportunity presents itself. People believe they’d do the right thing and that what they feel aligns with their notion of their values. Untested, however, they have no clear definitions of boundaries or morales. And with more agency comes the ability to reshape the story you tell yourself of who you are. In this case, voiced to all but a stranger—who always do seem like the easiest people to share yourself with. Even if what you share is just that: a story mired in fiction. 

This short, punchy, and deceptively simple novel was a fun ride. By the end there is plenty to chew on. The prose work is clean and uncomplicated, unfurling a plot that clips along until the final thought provoking beat.

MOUTH TO MOUTH.

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