Thy Neighbor: A Novel - Hardcover

Vincent, Norah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670023744 ISBN 13: 9780670023745

Publisher: Viking, 2012

Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author, a first novel as spellbinding as her acclaimed nonfiction

At thirty-four, Nick Walsh is a broken, deeply cynical man. Since the violent deaths of his parents thirteen years earlier, he has been living alone in his childhood home in the suburban Midwest, drinking, drugging, and debauching himself into oblivion. A measure of solace is provided by his newly found relationship with Monica, a mysterious woman who seems to harbor as many secrets as he does.

Obsessed with understanding the circumstances surrounding his parents’ deaths and deranged by his relentless sorrow, Nick begins a campaign of spying on his neighbors via hidden cameras and microphones he has covertly installed in their houses. As he observes with amusement and disbelief all the strange, sad, and terrifying things that his neighbors do to themselves and to one another, and as he, in turn, learns that he is being stalked, he begins to slowly unravel the shocking truth about how and why his parents died.

At once unsettling and moving, humorous and horrifying, Thy Neighbor explores the nature of grief, the potential isolation of suburban life, and who we really are when we think no one is watching. What readers and critics have admired in Norah Vincent’s nonfiction is completely unleashed in this vivid and provocative novel.

About this title

About the Author

Norah Vincent was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1968. Formerly an op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times, she is the author of two previous works of nonfiction, the New York Times bestseller Self-Made Man: One Woman’s Year Disguised as a Man and Voluntary Madness: Lost and Found in the Mental Health-Care System. She lives in New York City.

Review

 
Praise for Thy Neighbor

"Norah Vincent  will make you laugh while she is breaking your heart, and make you feel pity as you recoil in disgust. At once a misanthropic rant, a voyeuristic free for all, and a philosophic thriller, Thy Neighbor is a book that you will tear through in a few days and chew on for a long time thereafter. It's a heady and wonderful read."  —Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story

“One of our smartest and most original journalists has changed hats, and the new one fits her perfectly. A raging, jolting, arrestingly hard-edged novel of paranoia and revenge in the suburbs, Thy Neighbor crackles with ferocious energy and virtuosic phrasemaking. If you go for noir, prepare to be plunged into the desperate darkness of a world full of lost souls and lost hope—but keep one eye peeled for the glimmer of light at the far end of the tunnel.”  —Terry Teachout

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0670023744
• ISBN 13: 9780670023745
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320