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Mar 12, 2017gvenkatesh rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
An Escheresque work in which the fictitious author of a successful novel and the person on whom the novel was based on are linked in the plot like a Möbius strip to bring out each other for the reader. A bold and ambitious construction. The result however, if written by an author without a history of well-received books like The Dinner and Summer House with Swimming Pool, would likely have been rejected by the publishers sparing the reader of hours of boredom. The premise allows the author to explore a writer and the process of writing itself. And in the process surely exposing his own feelings as a mix of cynicism, jadedness and the emotions of feeling burnt out that most authors go through. A similar introspection by Bob Seger made the song "Turn the Page" a classic. Reading this novel, however, is more like being in a concert of a band you like and putting up with long boring jams that don't do anything for you but hanging on for the bits that made you like the band before.