"Darkly funny and surreal, FIVE WINDOWS is a timely, page-turning debut about alienation and breakdowns communal and individual."
- Vanessa Hua, author of River of StarsAt a busy intersection on a crammed city hillside, an overworked book editor looks up long enough to watch a trio of houses go up in flames. Once the smoke clears, he becomes increasingly concerned by what he sees out his windows and starts asking questions he never bothered with before: Is the encampment in the park responsible for the fires—or are his new upscale neighbors somehow to blame? Has the man upstairs even bothered to notice, or is his time better spent battling with his boyfriend? What''s his own ex-wife doing, resurfacing now just when things are getting tense? Is everyone safer with more fire trucks around? And, just a block down the hill, is the new mixed-use project the perfect urban remedy, or will it do even more damage?
By the time the home across the street catches fire, he has to face a few questions about himself, too, including his own role in the neighborhood''s upheaval. Inspired by Hitchcock''s Rear Window and set in San Francisco, Jon Roemer''s debut novel explores a fabled American city divided by rapid and aggressive change.
Industry Reviews
"This book reads, often, like a dystopian novel, but-disturbingly-it's one set in a dystopia we already live in."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Jon Roemer writes beautifully, squeezing detail and meaning into finely wrought sentences, working best with the difficult zone of what's not on the page. If you're an experienced reader who desires brief, thinky books with small dashes of absurdism, Five Windows is the one for you. ... A bright little gem from a promising, thoughtful writer."
-Book and Film Globe
"Suffused with unease, Five Windows casts its sharpest light on alienation and its spoils. The book's quiet strength comes from the details of a city shifting beneath the feet of its inhabitants-and the irreparable fissures this creates."
-Alta
"Like spying on your neighbor, Five Windows offers a unique look into the life of the man you see pacing back and forth in front of his window. ... Roemer's book is one part humor, one part ambiguous, and all parts existential. ...Great for someone who enjoys a strong literary voice."
-Independent Book Review
"A Russian Doll of confounding contradictions: still but energetic, deadpan but tragic, obscure but utterly engaging. There is really nothing like it."
-David Winner, StateOfRec
"An impressive, engrossing debut from a bold new voice."
-Alia Volz, author of Home Baked: My Mother, Marijuana and the Stoning of San Francisco
"An uncanny approximation of our times... Jon Roemer channels Hitchcock in this noirish stunner."
-Jane Ciabattari, author of Stealing the Fire
"Like the slippery narratives and realities of Kazuo Ishiguro, Jon Roemer's psychological thriller reveals the loneliness of a crowded city in which everybody sees their neighbors all day long and haven't a clue who those neighbors are."
-Brian Bouldrey, author of The Boom Economy and Monster
