It is the summer of 1997. Alec Valentine is returning to England to care for his ailing mother, Alice, a task that only reinforces his deep sense of inadequacy. In San Francisco, his older brother Larry prepares to come home as well, preoccupied with an acting career that is sliding toward sleaze and a marriage that is faltering. In Paris, on the other hand, the Hungarian playwright Laszlo Lazar seems to have it all--critical acclaim, a loving boyfriend, and a close circle of friends--yet even he is haunted by guilt and tragedy. For each of them the time has come to assess the turns taken, the opportunities missed. And for each there will be one last chance to break free from the past and find redemption in a moment of clarity and courage.
Andrew Miller has given us an intimate, compelling meditation that evokes an extraordinary range of emotions and insights--Oxygen lives and breathes beyond the final page.
Industry Reviews
PRAISE FOR OXYGEN "Lovely, striking, strange, evocative . . . There is not a page of this book that does not offer the reader exquisite . . . prose."--The Washington Post Book World
"A writer of verve and talent . . . [Miller's] prose is fluent, lucid and at times radiant."--The New York Times Book Review
"Poignant, probing, brainy fiction . . . enlivened by a sly, stoical wit that keeps cropping up where you least expect it."--Chicago Tribune PRAISE FOR OXYGEN
"Lovely, striking, strange, evocative . . . There is not a page of this book that does not offer the reader exquisite . . . prose."--The Washington Post Book World
"A writer of verve and talent . . . [Miller's] prose is fluent, lucid and at times radiant."--The New York Times Book Review
"Poignant, probing, brainy fiction . . . enlivened by a sly, stoical wit that keeps cropping up where you least expect it."--Chicago Tribune PRAISE FOR "OXYGEN"
"Lovely, striking, strange, evocative . . . There is not a page of this book that does not offer the reader exquisite . . . prose."--"The Washington Post Book World"
"A writer of verve and talent . . . [Miller's] prose is fluent, lucid and at times radiant."--"The New York Times Book Review"
"Poignant, probing, brainy fiction . . . enlivened by a sly, stoical wit that keeps cropping up where you least expect it."--"Chicago Tribune" PRAISE FOR "OXYGEN"
"Lovely, striking, strange, evocative . . . There is not a page of this book that does not offer the reader exquisite . . . prose."--"The Washington Post Book World"
"A writer of verve and talent . . . [Miller's] prose is fluent, lucid and at times radiant."--"The New York Times Book Review"
"Poignant, probing, brainy fiction . . . enlivened by a sly, stoical wit that keeps cropping up where you least expect it."--"Chicago Tribune"
