Now in paperback, Per Petterson’s new novel, a “masterful . . . breathtaking read” (San Francisco Chronicle)
I Refuse
A Novel
- “There is a powerfully dense, intimate texture to these emotional landscapes. . . . [Petterson] transforms the unremarkable into magic.”—The New York Times Book Review (front cover)
Per Petterson’s I Refuse is the work of an internationally acclaimed novelist at the height of his powers. In the same spare but evocative style that made readers fall in love with Out Stealing Horses, Petterson weaves a tale of two men whose accidental meeting one morning churns up a fateful moment from their boyhood thirty-five years before.
“Petterson’s latest book, I Refuse, does not disappoint. . . . Petterson’s sentences [are] strange, kinetic creatures that take flight. . . . His work remains, like his own reminiscences, exquisite impressions that glimmer as quickly as they fade.”—The Boston Globe
“A seamless emotional alchemy lifts off the page that, in turn, expands a reader’s understanding of the human condition. It is equal parts uncomfortable, exhilarating and memorable.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Mimicking the release of pent-up emotions, the book’s short declarative sentences suddenly transform into flowing, incantatory paragraphs. . . . Beautifully done.”—The Washington Post
“The steely northern landscape, the absent parents, the excessive drinking—all are summoned with the precise language of a poet. . . . Yet while Petterson’s other novels settle in your heart gently, this one winds up a rocket. I Refuse is the author’s most emotionally layered and powerful novel yet. . . . [A] masterful work.”—Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
“Petterson’s latest book, I Refuse, does not disappoint. . . . Petterson’s sentences [are] strange, kinetic creatures that take flight. . . . His work remains, like his own reminiscences, exquisite impressions that glimmer as quickly as they fade.”—The Boston Globe
“A seamless emotional alchemy lifts off the page that, in turn, expands a reader’s understanding of the human condition. It is equal parts uncomfortable, exhilarating and memorable.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Mimicking the release of pent-up emotions, the book’s short declarative sentences suddenly transform into flowing, incantatory paragraphs. . . . Beautifully done.”—The Washington Post
“The steely northern landscape, the absent parents, the excessive drinking—all are summoned with the precise language of a poet. . . . Yet while Petterson’s other novels settle in your heart gently, this one winds up a rocket. I Refuse is the author’s most emotionally layered and powerful novel yet. . . . [A] masterful work.”—Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
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About the Author
Credit: Baard Henriksen
Praise
- “Mr. Petterson’s sentences are often exhilarating adventures in themselves.”—The Wall Street Journal
- “Mimicking the release of pent-up emotions, the book’s short declarative sentences suddenly transform into flowing, incantatory paragraphs. . . . Beautifully done.”—The Washington Post
- “Petterson’s latest book, I Refuse, does not disappoint. . . . His work remains, like his own reminiscences, exquisite impressions that glimmer as quickly as they fade.”—The Boston Globe
- “[W]hile Petterson’s other novels settle in your heart gently, this one winds up a rocket. I Refuse is the author’s most emotionally layered and powerful novel yet.”—Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Acknowledgements
A Lannan Translation Selection
