mystery girl by david gordon
"Some things are inexplicable. The human heart is one. Los Angeles is another. In his latest whodunit, Gordon ('The Serialist') takes on both with an LA noir reminiscent of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy [in which] a failed experimental novelist, Sam Kornberg must track a mystery woman through LaLa land psych wards and late-night jaunts to Mexico." —New York Post, Required Reading
"David Gordon has written a passionate love story disguised as a mystery, a brainy tragicomedy, a bildungsroman wherein ‘the gumshoe learns the shocking secret of himself.’ His prose is by turns salacious, uproarious, and happily unhinged. A total delight.” —Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia!
"I'm a Lebowski, you're a Lebowski, and fans of the famous Coen Brothers film may find many of their favorite aspects mirrored in this dark comedy…An unpredictable farce." —Kirkus
"[Raymond] Chandler's shadow hangs over [Mystery Girl], as do the literary shades of Proust, Beckett, and Pynchon, and the equally strong cinematic influences of the Hitchcock of Vertigo and the Welles of Touch of Evil. The book is filled with literary and cinematic references… Gordon's appealing wit and obvious intellect propel this gripping tale to a finely wrought and mostly unexpected conclusion." —Booklist
"Both funny and frantic, complex and crazy, Gordon includes characters from every genre (underground and dark Coen Brothers films figure in the plot). [Mystery Girl] will appeal to readers of thrillers, cult film stories, and absurdist fiction." —Library Journal
"I have rarely come across a writer in such command of the English language. His sentences, characterizations and set pieces are things of beauty." —Washington Independent Review of Books