As a Friend: A Novel. This item is unavailable.As a Friend: A Novel

An unforgettable, sensual novel by "one of the most gifted and accomplished poets of his generation" (Mark Rudman).

"Heroism is a secondary virtue," Albert Camus noted, "but friendship is primary." In his gem-like first novel, Forrest Gander writes of friendship, envy, and eros as a harmonic of charged overtones. Set in a rural southern landscape as vivid as its indelible characters, As a Friend tells the story of Les, a gifted man and land surveyor, whose impact on those around him (his friend Clay, his girlfriend Sarah) provokes intense self-examination and an atmosphere of dangerous eroticism. With poetic insight, Gander explores the nature of attraction, betrayal, and loyalty. What he achieves is brilliant in style and powerfully unsettling.

Forrest Gander (b. 1956) was born in the Mojave Desert and grew up, for the most part, in Virginia. With degrees in geology and English literature, Gander is the author of numerous books of poetry, translation, fiction, and essays. Formerly A.K. Seaver Professor of Literary Arts and Comparative Literature at Brown University, Gander has been the recipient of grants from the NEA, the Guggenheim, Howard, Witter Bynner, and Whiting Foundations. His 2019 collection Be With won the Pulitzer prize for poetry and was longlisted for the National Book Award.