Nude Men
A Novel
by Amanda Filipacchi
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Pub Date Jun 24 2014 | Archive Date Sep 24 2014
Open Road Integrated Media | Open Road Media
Description
The internationally acclaimed debut of a novelist described by the New York Times Book Review as a “lovely comic surrealist”—a story of sex, love, and art found in the unlikeliest of places
Jeremy Acidophilus is not really named after the yogurt culture—he just likes to tell people that he is. Actually, he thought of that line years ago but has never been brave enough to use it on someone—until he meets Lady Henrietta over a dish of green Jell-O in his new favorite coffee shop. A painter of naked men for Playgirl magazine who has taken her name from The Picture of Dorian Gray, Henrietta has the power to make Jeremy do all kinds of things he would not normally do, including disrobe for a stranger. He thinks that he must be falling in love. Think again, says Sara, the artist’s outrageously precocious eleven-year-old daughter as she sets out to seduce the new model.
From the gray streets of Manhattan to the pastel kaleidoscope of Disney World, Jeremy’s journey of self-discovery is both irresistibly absurd and uncannily real. Everyone—from his cat Minou to a dancing magician named Laura to the agents hired by his mother to taunt him—has advice for Jeremy. Before he can hear any of it, though, he first needs to find out how to listen to himself.
A witty and wild exploration of sexuality, creativity, and the paradoxes of self, Nude Men is the rare novel with the power to charm and shock in equal measure.
Advance Praise
“An optical illusion novel: savor the shimmering wit and sharp writing from a distance; or get close and risk seeing something that may shock you.” —Details
“Its particular brand of sly naivete . . . is all its own. . . . Exuberantly inventive . . . Droll, mesmerizing and unexpectedly memorable. —Publishers Weekly
“Filipacchi’s novel of manners . . . is a sly look at contemporary sexual politics and mores.” —Vanity Fair
“Deftly comic and ingenuous . . . intelligent, imaginative, and, with every page, increasingly surreal.” —Library Journal
“Nude Men is everything you don’t expect it to be—hilarious, full of plot surprises, and completely original.” —Louis Malle
“Witty and unpredictable to the end, Nude Men is a quirky tale of twisted morals.” —Vogue
“Filipacchi is fearsomely witty. . . . A truly clever first novel, one that makes you feel clever as you read it.” —The Village Voice
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781497645752 |
| PRICE | $14.99 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Kathleen D, Reviewer
3 1/2 stars... Initially read this years ago but decided to re-visit it. It is an uncomfortable subject (11 yr old seductress) on one hand, but on the other it carries us with it's strangeness. Filipacchi certainly plays with the reader, and is never predictable. Handling the untouchable subject using humor is what makes the novel clever. When Jeremy is approached to pose nude in the name of art by the beautiful Lady Henrietta, this 'unremarkable' man is seduced by her 11 year old daughter. To prevent her son from crossing the line, his mother interfere's by using hired strangers to make him feel shame about 'molestation' through seemingly random encounters. What a fun idea! The death scene is loaded, with 'male nudity' at it's core. It is a smart novel to be sure, there were just times I felt uninterested. I adore her writing, it just isn't my favorite Filipacchi novel, though I certainly 'got it'. It raises questions about sexuality most people don't want to visit. For most readers, particularly females, it's just too hard to overlook the fact Sara is a child, magnetic or not. As readers, we can dissect what the author was doing here, poking at morals, challenging reactions- but it's more than just a novel in the vein of Lolita (in some ways I hate mentioning Lolita at all). There are other things being said about people as a whole through other eccentric characters. It certainly begs to be read. I liked it.
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