Tom Rachman Boeken

Niemand weet precies hoe Tooly Zylberberg eigenaar is geworden van het noodlijdende boekwinkeltje World’s End in de heuvels van Wales. De Russische immigrant Humphrey leert haar schaken, maar is dat zijn enige rol? Hoe zit het met Sarah, die uit het niets opduikt in Tooly’s leven, en net zo snel weer verdwijnt? En wie is Venn, de obscure maar charismatische man die iedereen een stapje voor lijkt te zijn? Met De opkomst en ondergang van grootmachten schaart Tom Rachman zich tussen de allergrootste auteurs van dit moment en zet hij een fenomenale literaire puzzeltocht neer die drie decennia en diverse continenten omspant en langs alle excentrieke personages voert die ooit hebben bijgedragen aan de opvoeding van Tooly Zylberberg.

For admirers of Tom Rachman's work, particularly The Imperfectionists, this is a return to the formal ingenuity and technique that he exhibited so flamboyantly in his bestselling debut.

These five linked stories share the same deft characterisation, buoyant wit and imaginative richness of Rachman's lauded novels . . . Prescient and clever and it is a quick and delightful read. Nick Curtis Evening Standard

“An exotic touch of intrigue arises in THE ITALIAN TEACHER . . . deliciously ironic and deeply affectionate.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post A masterful novel about the son of a great painter striving to create his own legacy, by the bestselling author of  The Imperfectionists.Conceived while his father, Bear, cavorted around Rome in the 1950s, Pinch learns quickly that Bear's genius trumps all. After Bear abandons his family, Pinch strives to make himself worthy of his father's attention--first trying to be a painter himself; then resolving to write his father's biography; eventually settling, disillusioned, into a job as an Italian teacher in London. But when Bear dies, Pinch hatches a scheme to secure his father's legacy--and make his own mark on the world.With his signature humanity and humor, Tom Rachman examines a life lived in the shadow of greatness, cementing his place among his generation's most exciting literary voices.

The newspaper was founded in Rome in the 1950s, a product of passion and a multi-millionaire's fancy. Over fifty years, its eccentricities earned a place in readers' hearts around the globe. But now, circulation is down, the paper lacks a website, and the future looks bleak. Still, those involved in the publication seem to barely notice. The obituary writer is too busy avoiding work. The editor-in-chief is pondering sleeping with an old flame. The obsessive reader is intent on finishing every old edition, leaving her trapped in the past. And the dog-crazy publisher seems less interested in his struggling newspaper than in his magnificent basset hound, Schopenhauer. The Imperfectionists interweaves the stories of eleven unusual and endearing characters who depend on the paper. Often at odds, they are united when the focus of their lives begins to fall apart. Funny and moving, the novel is about endings - the end of life, the end of sexual desire, the end of the era of newspapers - and about what might rise afterward.

Erste Sätze, letzte Worte und all die Geschichten dazwischen Die Bücher der Schriftstellerin Dora Frenhofer werden schon lange nicht mehr gelesen. Trotzdem beschließt sie mit dreiundsiebzig Jahren, einen allerletzten Roman zu verfassen. Während ihre soziale Isolation in London immer mehr zunimmt, reist sie in ihrer Fantasie über den ganzen Globus und schlüpft in die Köpfe des verschollenen Bruders, der entfremdeten Tochter, des einstigen Liebhabers und anderer Menschen, die ihren Lebensweg gekreuzt haben. Gleich einer modernen Scheherazade verwebt Dora die verschiedenen Einzelschicksale zu einem großen Gegenwartspanorama – und einem ungewöhnlichen Selbstporträt. Ironisch wie warmherzig führt Tom Rachman uns in ›Die Hochstapler‹ die Bedeutung und Kraft der Erzählkunst vor Augen.