The Optimists [Paperback]

Clem Glass was a successful photojournalist, firm in the belief that photographs could capture truth and beauty. Until he went to Africa and witnessed the aftermath of a genocidal massacre.
Clem returns to London with his faith in human nature shattered and his life derailed. Nothing-work, love, sex-can rouse his interest and no other outlook can restore his faith. The one person Clem is able to connect with is his sister, who has made her own sudden retreat from reality into the shadows of mental illness, and he finds some peace nursing her back to health in rural Somerset. Then news arrives that offers him the chance to confront the source of his nightmares.

In The Optimists, Miller explores the perilously thin line between self-delusion and optimism.

PRAISE FORTHE OPTIMISTS

Once again Miller shows himself to be an acutely sensitive observer of life at a particular moment in history . . . [His] inventive yet unobtrusive prose conveys a richly complex reality filtered through Clem's stunned consciousness. --The Wall Street Journal

[A] work of solemn artistry. Miller's style is one of guarded lyricism, in which he allows just enough poetry in the language to get the job done, the mood or moment caught. --The New York Times Book Review

Subtle and beautifully written...Miller's prose brings grace and lucidity to what is dark and baffling

Beautifully written, astutely observed, and as maddeningly inconclusive as life itself.

A work of solemn artistry

A powerful study of emotional trauma

Once again Miller shows himself to be an acutely sensitive observer of life at a particular moment in history.