Portraits and Ashes - Paperback

by John Pistelli (Author)

Julia is an aspiring painter without money or direction, haunted by a strange family history. Mark is a successful architect who suddenly finds himself unemployed with a baby on the way. Alice is a well-known artist and museum curator disgraced when her last exhibit proved fatal. Running from their failures, this trio is drawn toward a strange new cult that seeks to obliterate the individual-and which may be the creation of a mysterious and dangerous avant-garde artist. John Pistelli unforgettably portrays three people desperate to lead meaningful lives as they confront the bizarre new institutions of a fraying America. A suspenseful and poetic novel in the visionary tradition of Don DeLillo, David Mitchell, Kazuo Ishiguro, and José Saramago, PORTRAITS AND ASHES is a scorching picture of our troubled age.

Author Biography

John Pistelli was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he teaches literature, writing, and other humanities courses. He holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Minnesota, and his fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared a variety of literary journals. His novella The Ecstasy of Michaela was published by Valhalla Press.