Ether

Ben Ehrenreich

Oct 2011 · City Lights Publishers

About this ebook

A bearded man in a badly soiled suit known only as The Stranger wanders an apocalyptic landscape on the fringes of a dying metropolis, looking for a way to "get back on top." Thwarted and rejected at every turn by old friends and strangers alike—even by the author of this novel, whom he visits repeatedly in unsuccessful attempts to determine his own narrative—his impotence and rage are expressed in acts of seemingly senseless violence. The various characters he encounters on his journey—a pack of sadistic boys, skinheads who beat him senseless, a deaf-mute woman who tries to heal him, a sidewalk preacher, and a deranged man who identifies him as The One—avoid or abuse him, or attempt to follow him.

Entertaining, disturbing, and wildly intelligent, written with sinister humor and great compassion, Ether reflects on the possibilities and consequences of forgiveness, the problems of faith, and the trials of creation.

"Like a David Lynch movie transcribed by Pierre Reverdy, it's a brilliant and unforgettable book, written somewhere between sleeping and waking."—Chris Kraus, author of Torpor

"This is an intense, intelligent novel that paints a vivid picture of an America that most of us refuse to see, are afraid to see. This is real art."—Percival Everett, author of I Am Not Sidney Poitier

"A book that's both pure as snow and filthy as dirty, with the lovely detachment of ice. Like Beckett, Ehrenreich has the talent of being particular and general at once, and thus steps outisde of time"—Lydia Millet, Pulizer Prize finalist for Love in Infant Monkeys

"Ether is a dark and powerful work, with disturbing metaphysical overtones. Ben Ehrenreich is a gathering power in the literary land."—John Banville, author of The Infinities

"Ben Ehenreich transforms the brutal human and urban blight into a landscape of cosmic battle. Ether is a dark, complex, richly written, beautiful novel. It is a rarity in American fiction today."—Frederic Tuten, author of Self Portraits: Fictions

"Ether, perhaps even more than his previous novel, The Suitors, shows Ben Ehrenreich unafraid of storytelling that is terrifically bold and sly."—Sesshu Foster, author of World Ball Notebook

Ben Ehrenreich is an award-winning journalist and fiction writer. Ether is his second novel.

Ratings and reviews

Masterful, imaginative and unique fiction grappling with issues of identity, faith, and love. Ehrenreich's prose at times waxes poetic, then plunges into raw vulgarity. Here is an author that echoes the richness of Joyce and the fantastical style of Rushdie, but explores the post modern landscape of existential crisis amidst the debris of our material society. This is a challenging work that trusts the reader's native intelligence and ability to empathize with unconventional characters.

About the author

Ben Ehrenreich lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a novelist and journalist. His first novel, The Suitors, was published by Counterpoint in 2006. His short fiction has been widely published and anthologized. Ehrenreich’s articles and essays have been published in Harper’s, the New York Times Magazine, the London Review of Books, The Nation, the Los Angeles Times and many other publications.