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I Was Jack Mortimer

Part of Pushkin Press Classics

Author Alexander Lernet-Holenia

Translated by Ignat Avsey

Paperback

$16.95 US

Steerforth Press | Pushkin Press Classics

5.08"W x 7.76"H x 0.63"D | 7 oz | 24 per carton

On sale Jun 04, 2024 | 160 Pages | 9781805330370

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“A terrific fast-moving book. . . a truly clever, rather wonderful book that both plays with and defies genre” – Irish Times

A taxi-driver in 1930s Vienna impersonates a murder victim, and is caught into a dangerous spiral

Twice adapted for film, I Was Jack Mortimer is a tale of misappropriated identity as darkly captivating and twisting as the books of Patricia Highsmith.

“One doesn’t step into anyone’s life, not even a dead man’s, without having to live it to the end.”

A man climbs into Ferdinand Sponer's cab, gives the name of a hotel, and before he reaches it has been murdered: shot through the throat. And though Sponer has so far committed no crime, he is drawn into the late Jack Mortimer's life, and might not be able to escape its tangles and intrigues before it is too late...

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: outstanding classic storytelling from around the world, in a stylishly original series design. From newly rediscovered gems to fresh translations of the world’s greatest authors, this series includes such authors as Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Gaito Gazdanov.

Alexander Lernet-Holenia was born in Vienna in 1897. He served in the Austro-Hungarian army in the First World War and became a protégé of Rainer Maria Rilke. During his life he wrote poetry, novels, plays and was a successful screenwriter. His uneasy relationship with the National Socialist Party resulted in his removal from prominence in 1944, but after the end of the Second World War, he again became a vital figure in Austrian cultural life. He died in 1976.

Alexander Lernet-Holenia View titles by Alexander Lernet-Holenia

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"The cast of this brilliant thriller ... are pure Raymond Chandler ... but the Viennese setting gives it an extra, stylish twist. It's excEllently written and fearsomely gripping." - Kate Saunders, The Times

"Very few novels published in recent years match its daunting panache... The fast-moving, cleverly convoluted plot is brilliantly served by the sustained irony of Ignat Avsey's witty translation... a terrific book, one to read and then urge everyone else to follow suit... a truly clever, rather wonderful book that both plays with and defies genre." - Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

"A fascinating snapshot of Vienna between the wars, pacey and entertaining." - Laura Wilson, Guardian

"The action shifts and shimmers in a Vienna that comes to life." - Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

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