Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer [Paperback]

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • The author of Voices in the Night reveals the mesmerizing journey of an American dreamer as he walks a haunted line between fantasy and reality, madness and ambition, art and industry.

“This wonderful, wonder-full book is a fable and phantasmagoria of the sources of our century.” —The New York Times Book Review

Young Martin Dressler begins his career as an industrious helper in his father's cigar store.  In the course of his restless young manhood, he makes a swift and eventful rise to the top, accompanied  by two sisters--one a dreamlike shadow, the other a worldly business partner. As the eponymous Martin's vision becomes bolder and bolder, a  sense of doom builds piece-by-hypnotic piece until this mesmerizing journey reaches its bitter-sweet conclusion. This wonderful, wonder-full book is a fable and phantasmagoria of the sources of our century.  —The New York Times Book Review

The novel is told as a fable, with prose both lush and dreamlike. The characters are intentionally rather shadowy, while the period details- of building construction, interior design, dress styles, street scenes—have a sensuality so palpable you can practically chew on them.  —The Wall Street Journal

A Chronicle of obsession, self-indulgence, and, in a curious way, moral growth, expertly poised between realistic narrative and allegorical fable.... A fascinating and provocative portrayal of turn-of-the-century America that hums with energy and wit.  —Kirkus Reviews

Literature's romance with building-as-metaphor earns new energy through Millhauser's lal3¢