A hilarious and dazzling debut novel about a master impressionist at risk of losing his true self
All his life Giovanni Bernini has possessed an unhealthy gift: he can imitate anyone he meets. Honed by his mother at a young age, the talent catapults him from small-town obscurity to stardom.
As Giovanni describes it, "No one's disguise is perfect. There is in every person, no matter how graceful, a seam, a thread curling out of them ... When pulled by the right hands, it will unravel the person entire." As his fame grows, Giovanni encounters a beautiful and enigmatic stage signer Lucy Starlight - the only person whose thread he cannot find - and becomes increasingly trapped inside his many poses. Ultimately, he must assume the one identity he has never been able to master: his own.
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“A story with a number of distinctive characters requires a similarly diverse performer to do it justice. Robert Fass demonstrates an impressive talent for impersonating all types of people to the extent that the listener barely needs to hear dialogue tag. Fass voices the lonely small-town boy, the big-city talent manager, and many other characters with great skill and delight…[Overall a] superb listening experience.”
— AudioFile
“Smart and grand and funny, a wonderful fable.”
— Sam Lipsyte, New York Times bestselling author“Mr. Rubin has created the perfect comic noir tragedy of mimicry and betrayal, of great love and greater loss…This is a novel that will be loved and admired for years to come.”
— Reif Larsen, New York Times bestselling author“The Poser is a tour de force of voice, a genius act of ventriloquism, a terrific novel. From the opening you’ll be hooked.”
— Tom Franklin, New York Times bestselling author“The Poser is often dazzling, a high-wire entertainment about entertainment.”
— Charles Bock, New York Times bestselling author“Rubin’s smart and absorbing debut claims its power early and rarely surrenders it…I hear echoes of Steven Millhauser and Tom McCarthy…But the sensibility with which [Rubin] shapes his story is highly individual: probing, witty, yet hiding at its center a strangely iron compassion.”
— New York Times Book Review“A masterful debut…delivered with vaudeville verve.”
— Washington Post“Darkly funny…A deeply sensitive exploration into matters of identity and authenticity.”
— Associated Press“Zelig with a dash of Being There.”
— New York Magazine“The Poser seduces with its imaginative energy, the sheer wit and reach of its invention, but is propelled at its core by a deeply human generosity to its characters—their fierce and confused and fragile hearts.”
— Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy ExamsBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Jacob Rubin’s writing has appeared in the Best New American Voices anthology, on NewYorker.com, and it New York magazine, Slate, Cincinnati Review, and the New Republic, among others. Times Square, a screenplay he cowrote, was recently acquired by Focus Features. He lives in New York.
Robert Fass is a veteran actor and twice winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He has earned multiple Earphones Awards and been named in AudioFile magazine’s list of the year’s best narrations for six years.