Numb: A Novel

by Sean Ferrell

Overview

A captivating debut from exciting new talent Sean Ferrell, Numb is the endearing tale of a man with no memory or ability to feel pain, who attracts a colorful crowd of sycophants and exploiters while trying to come to terms with who he really is. Fans of the work of Richard Powers, Gary Shteyngart, and Thomas Pynchon—and of the films The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Truman Show, and the cinematic oeuvre of Charlie Kaufman—will love the unique and entertaining Numb.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061946509
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/03/2010
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	5.64(w) x 11.28(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Sean Ferrell's story "Building an Elephant" won the Fulton Prize from The Adirondack Review; his short stories have appeared in Bossa Nova Ink, WORDS, Uber, and The Cafe Irreal. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. Numb is his first novel.

Editorial Reviews

In Ferrell's offbeat debut, an amnesiac joins a Texas circus where his inability to feel pain makes him a big-top hit and earns him the name Numb. After a haunting experience wrestling a lion, Numb and his best friend, Mal, give up the circus for life in New York, where they live in a crappy hotel and make a living as a lowrent one-man freak show. When Numb lands a talent agent and begins to move up through the layers of celebrity, he leaves Mal behind for a cast of characters including a blind artist girlfriend and bad news model Emilia. But in Numb's world, nothing hurts much at all, so Mal comes back and predictably turns things upside down, despite the men's bond being difficult to comprehend. There are captivating moments and passages, but details like Numb's rise to recognized-on-the-street fame aren't sufficiently explained and require a hefty suspension of disbelief. Though some of the storytelling nuts and bolts are missing, the book has a lot of heart. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

There are captivating moments and passages.... [Numb] has a lot of heart.” — Publishers Weekly

“Ferrell’s eye-catching debut is a mordant take on contemporary culture.... Artfully barbed entertainment.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher