Dark Companion

by Jim Nisbet

Book Overview

Banerjhee Rolf, a bright, level-headed Indian-American scientist, is content to spend his days with his wife, tending his garden and studying his beloved astronomy. When Rolf's relationship with his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590202023
• ISBN13: 9781590202029
• Release Date: April 2011
• Publisher: Overlook Press
• Length: 151 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

On my "little known gem" list.

A tragicomedy with a lot to say. Part farce, part indictment of our corporate culture, part parable on the fragility of human existence. The book opens with a style and pace reminiscent of Thorne Smith and Damon Runyon and Peter De Vries--comic in the way of TOPPER, say, but updated to recent times. With just a few deft brush strokes, Nisbet paints a picture of a simple and reclusive man in a happy marriage, just trying to get along. But as Damon Runyon used to say, "all life is 6-5 against," and soon his life begins to unravel. Jim Nisbet writes well and he interlaces his narratives with images and ideas, laughter and madness, and just as supernovas flare and die, a human destiny might follow its own falling-star-arc as if by deathwish. Here, we watch and admire the beauty of it. And this is indeed a work of art, all the way around. Jim Nisbet's novels are instant collectors' items. The dustjacket of DARK COMPANION is especially gorgeous and symbolically relevant to the text. This is a quick read, even though I made myself slow down to relish it, with just 144 pages and set in an easy-to-read font. A small gem, and easily one of the best novels I've read this year.