NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Most Anticipated Books of the Year by Time · Best Books of September by The New York Times and NPR · Best Books of Fall by The Boston Globe · A Must-Read of September by Vulture
‘Alive...vivid...heartfelt.’—AO Scott, The New York Times
‘A towering accomplishment.’—Theo Baker, New York Times bestselling author of How to Rule the World
A mysterious accident along a country road sparks an awakening and an investigation in Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and acclaimed novelist Ayad Akhtar’s most daring work yet—a visionary novel of spiritual transformation in an age of fracture—‘bordering at times on the ineffable’ (Mary Gaitskill, bestselling author of BadBehavior).
When a hit-and-run shatters more than his body, a writer is plunged into a spiritual awakening he can’t tell from madness. In its grip, he’s drawn to a brilliant campus colleague by an uncanny pull, and into a scandal that threatens to destroy them both. What begins as a provocative portrait of academic and cultural warfare deepens into erotic entanglement, the exposure of a family secret, and the mystery surrounding the narrator’s accident—both the violence and its aftermath.
Moving between rural America and Europe, Islam and Christianity, the intimate and the metaphysical, The Radiance is of our American moment and beyond it—asking not only what has broken, but what radiance remains.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Most Anticipated Books of the Year by Time · Best Books of September by The New York Times and NPR · Best Books of Fall by The Boston Globe · A Must-Read of September by Vulture
‘Alive...vivid...heartfelt.’—AO Scott, The New York Times
‘A towering accomplishment.’—Theo Baker, New York Times bestselling author of How to Rule the World
A mysterious accident along a country road sparks an awakening and an investigation in Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and acclaimed novelist Ayad Akhtar’s most daring work yet—a visionary novel of spiritual transformation in an age of fracture—‘bordering at times on the ineffable’ (Mary Gaitskill, bestselling author of BadBehavior).
When a hit-and-run shatters more than his body, a writer is plunged into a spiritual awakening he can’t tell from madness. In its grip, he’s drawn to a brilliant campus colleague by an uncanny pull, and into a scandal that threatens to destroy them both. What begins as a provocative portrait of academic and cultural warfare deepens into erotic entanglement, the exposure of a family secret, and the mystery surrounding the narrator’s accident—both the violence and its aftermath.
Moving between rural America and Europe, Islam and Christianity, the intimate and the metaphysical, The Radiance is of our American moment and beyond it—asking not only what has broken, but what radiance remains.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"The Radiance is a fantastic surprise, a novel made of oppositions: almost painfully intimate, culturally wide-angled, vulnerable, shrewd, compassionate and ruthless, tragic and well, radiant. Bordering at times on the ineffable, it is a unique and extraordinary reading experience." - Mary Gaitskill
"A campus novel like no other, profound and beautiful, whose narrator weathers today's chaos while circling the ultimate questions - and somehow fun as hell to read. This brilliant book left me awestruck." - Phil Klay
"The Radiance is, simply put, a work of genius. Through unforgettable characters Akhtar explores the nature of memory and of the soul, while the unfolding tale builds tension and anticipation like a whodunit. The Radiance is hard to put down and so original it will linger with me for a long time." - Abraham Verghese
"I cannot remember the last time a book made me feel and think so much. The Radiance is as thrilling as it is illuminating. It quickened my pulse, activated my senses, awakened my mind and stirred my soul. A wondrous, transcendent reading experience." - Charles Yu
"A campus novel like no other, profound and beautiful, whose narrator weathers today's chaos while circling the ultimate questions - and somehow fun as hell to read. This brilliant book left me awestruck." - Phil Klay
"The Radiance is, simply put, a work of genius. Through unforgettable characters Akhtar explores the nature of memory and of the soul, while the unfolding tale builds tension and anticipation like a whodunit. The Radiance is hard to put down and so original it will linger with me for a long time." - Abraham Verghese
"I cannot remember the last time a book made me feel and think so much. The Radiance is as thrilling as it is illuminating. It quickened my pulse, activated my senses, awakened my mind and stirred my soul. A wondrous, transcendent reading experience." - Charles Yu
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