Quicksand
Compelling
Dark
Tragic

Quicksand

Steve Toltz2015
A daring, brilliant new novel from Man Booker Prize finalist Steve Toltz, for fans of Dave Eggers, Martin Amis, and David Foster Wallace: a fearlessly funny, outrageously inventive dark comedy about two lifelong friends. Liam is a struggling writer and a failing cop. Aldo, his best friend and muse, is a haplessly criminal entrepreneur with an uncanny knack for disaster. As Aldo’s luck worsens, Liam is inspired to base his next book on his best friend’s exponential misfortunes and hopeless quest to win back his one great love: his ex-wife, Stella. What begins as an attempt to make sense of Aldo’s mishaps spirals into a profound story of faith and friendship. With the same originality and buoyancy that catapulted his first novel, A Fraction of the Whole, onto prize lists around the world—including shortlists for the Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award—Steve Toltz has created a rousing, hysterically funny but unapologetically dark satire about fate, faith, friendship, and the artist’s obligation to his muse. Sharp, witty, kinetic, and utterly engrossing, Quicksand is a subversive portrait of twenty-first-century society in all its hypocrisy and absurdity.
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Reviews

Photo of Rebecca Harwood
Rebecca Harwood@beck
3 stars
Aug 25, 2023
Dark
Tragic
Unique
Offbeat
Compelling
Photo of Toby Fehily
Toby Fehily@tobyfehily
5 stars
Sep 24, 2022
Photo of Lara
Lara@veganravenclaw
4 stars
Oct 23, 2021
Photo of Phil James
Phil James@philjames
2 stars
Sep 3, 2021

Highlights

Photo of Rebecca Harwood
Rebecca Harwood@beck