MacGregor Tells the World - A Novel

Informationen zum Autor Elizabeth McKenzie Klappentext The highly acclaimed author of Stop That Girl delivers a masterfully plotted debut novel-at once a mystery of identity, sly literary satire, and coming-of age story-capturing a young man's impossible and heroic first love. Twenty-two-year-old MacGregor West, orphaned as a boy, is on a quest: to understand the circumstances of his mother's untimely death. On a foggy San Francisco evening, guided by an old stack of envelopes, Mac finds himself at the mansion of cultural icon Charles Ware, where he encounters the writer's beautiful and enigmatic daughter, Carolyn, trapped in a fold-up bed. Upon freeing her, Mac plunges headlong into the world of the eccentric Ware family and a love affair with a woman whose murky history may be closely linked to his own. MacGregor Tells the World is a poignant and often hilarious ride through present-day San Francisco, a city brimming with memorable characters who help Mac discover just what story is his to tell. Praise for Elizabeth McKenzie's Stop That Girl "Elizabeth McKenzie is an accomplished humorist and a developed stylist, and she wastes no time dazzling the reader with her clean direct language, her simple but searing use of metaphor and her unflinching eye.” -The New York Times Book Review "Single-handedly reinvigorate[s] the coming-of-age genre. . . . Here is a writer to watch, and a book to breeze through with glee.” -San Francisco Chronicle1 Above all, the quest. MacGregor West—Mac, or simply West, or even Ho-ho, or sometimes just Soldat duBois—had been walking past a certain Pacific Heights mansion in the city of San Francisco over the course of several weeks. He’d been recently delivered a shoe box full of his mother’s loose ends, and a stack of empty envelopes in it had borne this return address—as much to go on as anything he’d ever possessed. It had brought him to the outside of a place that looked more like a civic building than a residence. But he could not get up the nerve to apply his knuckles to the door. June. The hemisphere was heating up, all over but here. Fog rising in floes off the bay. Housekeepers and nannies, gardeners and florists, all wrapping up their work for the day. Quaint bumps in the sidewalk, approved bumps, because nothing was out of place around here. An older couple strolled by, walking pugs in handsome sweaters. “Evening,” Mac said. “Good evening,” they replied. Around here, the animals dressed better than he did. How many serfs had it taken to quarry and haul this granite here, to build this looming edifice? Tonight balloons tied to the front posts smacked lightly against one another in the mist, and the windows flickered with childish silhouettes. Not the time to knock and ask about a matter concerning only him. Even so, his talent for loitering was rewarded. The front door flew open, and he froze beside the trunk of a street-side mock orange tree to see who emerged. Not a who—a what. A bed on wheels. The sort that folds in half like a sandwich and rolls squeaking out of the closet when a guest appears. This one was being yanked onto the front landing by a handful of adolescent girls. And with a full-size person wedged within the frame, thrashing and trapped—the unexpected sight seemed like an omen. Two bare soles protruded from one side, a set of shoulders and a downward-facing head from the other. One mischievous girl peered up and down the street. Others were busy securing the bed with string. Then, to Mac’s surprise, they all dashed back into the house. Firmly shutting the door. Leaving the bed alone outside. He heard a muffled “Help!” His mouth felt dry. Should he butt in? Spoil the game? “Help,” the voice cried again, and he ambled over to offer a hand. “This as serious as it looks?” he asked. Her face was upside down, hidden by a spread of auburn hair as full as a hula ...

Product details

• Authors: Elizabeth Mckenzie
• Publisher: Random House USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 12.06.2007
• EAN: 9781400062256
• ISBN: 978-1-4000-6225-6
• No. of pages: 272
• Dimensions: 132 mm x 203 mm x 16 mm
• Series: Random House Publishing Group
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature