Dead Souls

The Guardian, 1 of the 10 Best Debut Novelists of the Year
BuzzFeed, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year
A New Statesman Most Anticipated Book of the Year

"Mordant, torrential, incantatory, Bolano-esque, Perec-ian, and just so explosively written that I had to stop and shake the language-shrapnel from my hair and wipe it off my eyeglasses so I could keep reading." -Jonathan Lethem

"Manic and thrillingly musical." -Dustin Illingworth, The New York Times Book Review

"A sardonic novel of poetry, plagiarism and literary politics that leans into its nihilism . . . Clever." -Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

"Dead Souls is an exceedingly cerebral comedy about the viability of contemporary poetry . . . One of the wittiest, sharpest, cruelest critiques of literary culture I've ever read. Riviere unleashes a flock of winged devils to tear apart the hermetically sealed world of privilege, praise and publication in which a few lucky writers dwell . . . What no summary can convey is the hypnotic effect of Riviere's relentless prose . . . An astute, wildly original novel that talks trash about everyone whose success galls you. And there's nothing quite so delicious as that." -Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"Sharp and funny." -Lily Meyer, NPR

"Hypnotic." -Meg Whiteford, The Believer

"A brilliant and brilliantly entertaining novel. The writing is merciless; the rage is genuine . . . Exhilarating." -Toby Litt, The Guardian

"An ingenious and authentic debut novel about privilege and public vilification in the arts sector . . . Entirely original." -Jonathan McAloon, Financial Times (UK)

"Whip-smart . . . Weirdly hypnotic . . . The strange and inexplicable abound: there are conspiracies, clues and delicious Nabokovian red herrings . . . Dead Souls is a real achievement." -Tristram Fane Saunders, The Daily Telegraph

"Readers will get caught up in the waywardness of this 300-page single-paragraph novel, following its numerous and surprising digressions wherever they may lead . . . The novel pinches its set-up from Camus's The Fall, veers close to Thomas Bernhard's sweeping syntax and yokes together scuzz with the cult of poetry a la Chilean writer Roberto Bolano . . . By stepping through Dead Souls' funhouse mirror, we see the current normal reality is as absurd and empty as an email. Yet, running through the novel is a skein of hope; stealing might not be as antisocial as it is usually made out. In fact, a little bit of plagiarism might be one of the most communal acts of all." -Sammi Gale, inews (UK)

"Inventive . . . Timely and provocative." -Arianna Rebolini, BuzzFeed, Best Summer Books

"Dead Souls feels fresh, candid, and, though no one dares to use the word in this book, heartfelt." -Tim Parks, The New York Review of Books

"Riviere . . . artfully blends metaphysics, existentialism, ideas of originality, and plagiarism, plus an enticing dose of history and memoir in this captivating read." -Reader's Digest, A Best Fiction Book of the Year

"Reminiscent of Thomas Bernhard and, more recently, the works of Lucy Ellman and Mike McCormack . . . Brilliantly inventive . . . Laugh out loud funny, harsh and savage, but also sobering and thoughtful." -Ian Mond, Locus

"The sheer brio and tumbling intelligence of Riviere's narration lift almost every page. Once you catch the spuming surf of his prose-and, as with Bernhard or Marias, it does take a little time-you'll want to ride the wave to the shore . . . Wickedly sharp." -Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk

"Manic and relentless . . . Impeccably written." -Dana Hansen, Chicago Review of Books

"Riviere's provocative debut novel . . . calls to mind Thomas Bernhard not only for its form but its rhythm and cadence . . . Will appeal to fans of Kate Zambreno's Drifts." -Publishers Weekly