Our Napoleon in Rags - Softcover

Gann, Kirby

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0975251732 ISBN 13: 9780975251737

Publisher: Ig Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

From a writer called “an important new voice in fiction” by Bret Lott and a “novelist of daring creativity and passion” by Edmund White, comes Our Napoleon in Rags. It’s the story of the regulars at the Don Quixote, a bar in a decaying Midwestern city, whose lives are torn apart when their self-appointed “Napoleon,” Haycraft Keebler, bipolar son of a famous local politician, falls in love with a 15-year-old male hustler. Weaving the hot-button issues of mental illness, pedophilia, racism and police brutality through a novel that is Victorian in its graceful storytelling, Kirby Gann has created not only an extraordinary read, but a biting commentary on contemporary America.

Kirby Gann is the managing editor of Sarabande Books and teaches in the MFA program at Spalding University.

About this title

About the Author

Kirby Gann's first novel, The Barbarian Parade, was called "a striking debut for a novelist of daring creativity and passion" by Edmund White. His short fiction has appeared in Witness, The Crescent Review, American Writing, The Louisville Review, The Southeast Review, and The Southern Indiana Review. He is also Managing Editor at Sarabande Books, and teaches in the MFA Program at Spalding University.

Reviews

Haycraft Keebler, the manic-depressive protagonist of Gann's ambitious second novel (following The Barbarian Parade), believes that it is his duty to save the world. Spending most of his time in a rundown bar appropriately named the Don Quixote, Haycraft devises plans to cure society's ills, from spray-painting the city's trashcans gold to creating a "community living room" in the middle of the sidewalk. The regulars at the Don Q, all idealistic misfits in their own ways, affectionately tolerate Haycraft's crazy schemes and outraged polemics, but when he becomes romantically involved with a teenage male prostitute, a disastrous chain of events ensues that throws the community into chaos. Gann explores the lives of various Don Quixote frequenters, including the bar's ageing hippie owners and the pragmatic Romeo, who stumbles into the Internet porn industry. Unfortunately, the plot is disjointed and, until the end, seemingly lacking in direction. Gann's elegant prose perfectly captures the novel's sense of doomed romanticism, but his imaginative characters lack realism, which keeps readers at an emotional distance. Ultimately, this beautifully written novel about lofty ideals and inevitable disappointments mirrors its own themes-it fails to achieve all its goals, but is nonetheless commendable for the valiant effort.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ig Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0975251732
• ISBN 13: 9780975251737
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 211