Last Resort

Andrew Lipstein

From Shelf: Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. 2022

When a bestseller-to-be cuts too close to reality, its author must make a Faustian bargain...A thrilling story of fame, fortune, and impossible choices.

Named a Best Book of 2022 by the New YorkerNamed a Top 10 Book of the Year by SlateNamed a Best Book of the Year by VultureA New York Times Editors' ChoiceShortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction 'Talent is rare, which is why I let out a big yippee reading Andrew Lipstein's Last Resort... Excellent'THE TIMES'You won't read a more brilliantly executed literary romp this year'GUARDIAN 'A funny, fast-paced literary satire'DAILY TELEGRAPH'Incredibly entertaining'NEW YORK TIMES, Editor's Choice'Wicked fun... A deliciously absurd comedy'WASHINGTON POST'If Less by Andrew Sean Greer left a hole in your life, good news: Last Resort will fill it'MEG MASON'Caleb Horowitz is exactly the kind of character I love to hate'CLAIRE FULLER'A rare accomplishment'RUMAAN ALAM'Wickedly funny: I loved it'PATRICK GALE'Superbly written, darkly funny and gripping from the first page. I absolutely loved it'EMMA STONEXCaleb Horowitz is twenty-seven, and his wildest dreams are about to come true. His manuscript has caught the attention of the literary agent, who offers him fame, fortune and a taste of the literary life. He can't wait for his book to be shopped around to every editor in New York, except one: Avi Dietsch, a college rival and the novel's 'inspiration.'When Avi gets his hands on the manuscript, he sees nothing but theft - and opportunity. And so Caleb is forced to make a Faustian bargain, one that tests his theories of success, ambition and the limits of art.