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The King Is Dead
Returning a hero from the battlefields of World War II, Walter Selby settles into a charmed domestic life in Memphis. But in a few brief moments, Walter sees his life and his world fracture and split apart, driving him to commit a terrible crime.
Many years later, Frank Cartwright ponders his next move. His film career has left him wealthy but incomplete. When a director approaches him with a script that has a riddle for a plot Frank is intrigued by its resonance. In his search for an answer to the riddle, Frank embarks on a journey that will lead him into a past he doesn’t remember.
Jim Lewis, acclaimed author of Why the Tree Loves the Ax , returns with a novel stunning in its originality and scope. And as he tells the stories of two men and the conflicts that shape them, he delivers a powerful portrait of America and the treacherous currents that run through it.
Many years later, Frank Cartwright ponders his next move. His film career has left him wealthy but incomplete. When a director approaches him with a script that has a riddle for a plot Frank is intrigued by its resonance. In his search for an answer to the riddle, Frank embarks on a journey that will lead him into a past he doesn’t remember.
Jim Lewis, acclaimed author of Why the Tree Loves the Ax , returns with a novel stunning in its originality and scope. And as he tells the stories of two men and the conflicts that shape them, he delivers a powerful portrait of America and the treacherous currents that run through it.
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published July 22, 2003
2 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Jim Lewis
169 books27 followersJim Lewis, born 1963 in Cleveland, Ohio, is an American novelist. Soon after he was born, his family moved to New York; there, and in London, he was raised. He received a degree in philosophy from Brown University in 1984, and an M.A. in the same subject from Columbia University, before deciding to leave academia.
Since then, he has published three novels, Sister (published by Graywolf in 1993), Why the Tree Loves the Ax (published by Crown in 1998), and The King is Dead (published by Knopf in 2003). All three have been published in the UK as well, and individually translated into several languages, including French, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Greek.
In addition to his novels, he has written extensively on the visual arts, for dozens of magazines, from Artforum and Parkett to Harper's Bazaar; and contributed to 20 artist monographs, for museums around the world, among them, Richard Prince at The Whitney Museum of American Art, Jeff Koons at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Christopher Wool at The Los Angeles Museum of Art, and a Larry Clark retrospective at the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
He has also written criticism and reportage for a wide range of publications, among them The New York Times, Slate, Rolling Stone, GQ, and Vanity Fair. His essays have appeared in Granta, and Tin House, among others.
He has collaborated with the photographer Jack Pierson on a small book called Real Gone (published by Artspace Books in 1993), and collaborated with Larry Clark on the story for the movie Kids.
He currently lives in Austin, Texas.
Wikipedia.
Since then, he has published three novels, Sister (published by Graywolf in 1993), Why the Tree Loves the Ax (published by Crown in 1998), and The King is Dead (published by Knopf in 2003). All three have been published in the UK as well, and individually translated into several languages, including French, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Greek.
In addition to his novels, he has written extensively on the visual arts, for dozens of magazines, from Artforum and Parkett to Harper's Bazaar; and contributed to 20 artist monographs, for museums around the world, among them, Richard Prince at The Whitney Museum of American Art, Jeff Koons at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Christopher Wool at The Los Angeles Museum of Art, and a Larry Clark retrospective at the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
He has also written criticism and reportage for a wide range of publications, among them The New York Times, Slate, Rolling Stone, GQ, and Vanity Fair. His essays have appeared in Granta, and Tin House, among others.
He has collaborated with the photographer Jack Pierson on a small book called Real Gone (published by Artspace Books in 1993), and collaborated with Larry Clark on the story for the movie Kids.
He currently lives in Austin, Texas.
Wikipedia.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 11, 2022
4.5, rounded up.
Although much of the action in this novel takes place in Memphis, the titular character is NOT Elvis (although he does get name-checked!). Rather, it refers to a conundrum a female film director (kind of a cross between Campion and Wertmuller) poses to Frank, one of the two main characters, an actor whom she is attempting to hire for her comeback film. That happens in the second half of this strange, bifurcated book, but most of the story revolves around Frank's father, Walter, and until the halfway point, this didn't really seem much like any of Lewis's other novels. Hence, until that turning point, I wasn't much engaged with the book - but the second half makes up for the longueurs of the first.
Sadly, this is the last of Lewis's four published fictions for me to read, and since it took 18 years between this and his recently published masterpiece, Ghosts of New York, I may very well de dead before the world sees another. :-(
Although much of the action in this novel takes place in Memphis, the titular character is NOT Elvis (although he does get name-checked!). Rather, it refers to a conundrum a female film director (kind of a cross between Campion and Wertmuller) poses to Frank, one of the two main characters, an actor whom she is attempting to hire for her comeback film. That happens in the second half of this strange, bifurcated book, but most of the story revolves around Frank's father, Walter, and until the halfway point, this didn't really seem much like any of Lewis's other novels. Hence, until that turning point, I wasn't much engaged with the book - but the second half makes up for the longueurs of the first.
Sadly, this is the last of Lewis's four published fictions for me to read, and since it took 18 years between this and his recently published masterpiece, Ghosts of New York, I may very well de dead before the world sees another. :-(
August 25, 2018
I'd rate this 3 1/2 stars if I could. It was well-written, particularly the first half and the last quarter or so. There were parts in the middle where it was hard to tell who the narrator was . I started to lose interest for a while. I'm glad that I stayed with the book though. Overall, it was an interesting novel that explored the lives of a father and his son and the impact of the father's crime on both their lives.
September 24, 2012
I never feel compelled to review anything on goodreads, but I bought this book because of the Eugenides blurb and am now absolutely mad about this book. Interesting characters, frequently amazing prose.. If you get half a chance, read this book!
November 1, 2018
The writing was so lyrical it was like reading a poem in prose form. Very beautiful when it worked. Unfortunately, there were down times when you got a little bored with all the lyricism. And there were chapters that seemed like they had wandered in from another story -- a really interesting story maybe, but one that didn't really add anything to the story you were reading. There were two sort of other stories like that and that was very confusing. It was as if the book hadn't been completely and fully mixed before being baked and there were stray elements that didn't set right. But the lyricism overall sort of overcame that. The moment of the "crime" and the ending were just beautifully told.
December 21, 2025
This novel is haunting, thoughtful, and beautifully written. Jim Lewis masterfully weaves together two lives across time, exploring memory, guilt, ambition, and the hidden fractures beneath the American dream. The story unfolds like a quiet riddle, drawing the reader into a past that refuses to stay buried. Powerful, original, and emotionally resonant, this is literary fiction at its finest—one that lingers long after the final page.
November 15, 2018
Song to listen with this book: The Mercy Seat (Johnny Cash version)
January 28, 2023
This one was tough to rate. The prose is beautiful and there were a handful of passages and events that were poignant and breathtaking… but for 95% of the time I was really bored with it. Bummer.
July 15, 2011
I bought this book because it had blurb by Jeffrey Eugenides, one of my favorite authors. I'm that glad that he introduced me to a local author that I'd never heard of.
The book contains one of the most dramatic transformations of a man that I've ever read. An optimistic, loving, successful speechwriter is reduced to confusion and regret after he and others do some things they shouldn't have.
I liked structure of the book. The five page prelude gives us the history of the main character spanning from 1725 to 1945, introducing both the ideas of the power of the past and the secrecy of the past. The last paragraph of the prelude explains how Walter Selby, a marine who fought in the Pacific in WWII, "loved [Nicole] more than love knew how; he married her and they had two children, a boy named Frank, and a girl, four year younger, named Gail. This book is their annals, twice-told and twofold." "Loved more than love knew how" is an early clue that things are not going to go well for this family.
The first half of the book focuses on the father, Walter, and his job as speechwriter for the Governor of Tennessee and his love for his family and the destruction of that love. There are also chapters about his wife. The second half focuses on his son Frank, from childhood to middle aged adulthood, as he tries to figure out who he is and what he should be doing with his life, and, eventually, who his father was. Lewis has some fun with point of view, starting the second section in second person, addressing Frank. I think it's meant to be Frank addressing himself, trying to figure out who he is. It's an effective, angry and unsettling use of second person. (Most of the book is in third person.)
I loved Lewis' metaphors, especially several about the passage of time. I also liked how the author included chapters of new characters who only tangentially touch the main characters, but provide powerful reflections of the main characters. We spend a chapter each with a country singer, a Native American man who's never seen a white man cry, a hotel maid who used to be married to a bartender who won the lottery, and said millionaire bartender. We get a glimpse of their lives and they give us insight indirectly into our main characters. These tangental characters also underscore the motifs of the book: the instability of life, the elusiveness of love and happiness. Much of the book is unsettling and grim, but I liked it.
The book contains one of the most dramatic transformations of a man that I've ever read. An optimistic, loving, successful speechwriter is reduced to confusion and regret after he and others do some things they shouldn't have.
I liked structure of the book. The five page prelude gives us the history of the main character spanning from 1725 to 1945, introducing both the ideas of the power of the past and the secrecy of the past. The last paragraph of the prelude explains how Walter Selby, a marine who fought in the Pacific in WWII, "loved [Nicole] more than love knew how; he married her and they had two children, a boy named Frank, and a girl, four year younger, named Gail. This book is their annals, twice-told and twofold." "Loved more than love knew how" is an early clue that things are not going to go well for this family.
The first half of the book focuses on the father, Walter, and his job as speechwriter for the Governor of Tennessee and his love for his family and the destruction of that love. There are also chapters about his wife. The second half focuses on his son Frank, from childhood to middle aged adulthood, as he tries to figure out who he is and what he should be doing with his life, and, eventually, who his father was. Lewis has some fun with point of view, starting the second section in second person, addressing Frank. I think it's meant to be Frank addressing himself, trying to figure out who he is. It's an effective, angry and unsettling use of second person. (Most of the book is in third person.)
I loved Lewis' metaphors, especially several about the passage of time. I also liked how the author included chapters of new characters who only tangentially touch the main characters, but provide powerful reflections of the main characters. We spend a chapter each with a country singer, a Native American man who's never seen a white man cry, a hotel maid who used to be married to a bartender who won the lottery, and said millionaire bartender. We get a glimpse of their lives and they give us insight indirectly into our main characters. These tangental characters also underscore the motifs of the book: the instability of life, the elusiveness of love and happiness. Much of the book is unsettling and grim, but I liked it.
August 30, 2011
As someone earlier reviewed, I also bought and read this book because of the favorable Jeffrey Eugenides review. That said, this isn't really close to the caliber of Eugenides's best work (Middlesex imo) but does show promise for this author. This is a complex book about race, politics, and family. I thought the greatest moments of the novel were centered on the father who is a speech writer to the governor. I also thought another strength of this novel were the insights into humanity shown here both in terms of our best qualities and our very realistic tragic flaws.
Favorite Quotes:
pg. 47, "Not at all, said Nicole, who just moments earlier had been measuring the century for solitude."
pg. 134 "She nodded but she wasn't prepared for eternity...Oh God, save something from all this. But God wouldn't come. He was watching very closely but he wouldn't come."
pg. 195 "Summers end in tears and decades end in madness."
Favorite Quotes:
pg. 47, "Not at all, said Nicole, who just moments earlier had been measuring the century for solitude."
pg. 134 "She nodded but she wasn't prepared for eternity...Oh God, save something from all this. But God wouldn't come. He was watching very closely but he wouldn't come."
pg. 195 "Summers end in tears and decades end in madness."
February 26, 2008
Very fluid for the first two-thirds of the book, then seems a little forced; however, the switch in era would dictate a different meter. Unfortunately, I could see what Mr. Lewis was trying to do, but the ending just didn't quite hit the mark.
October 19, 2014
Love love love this book, Jim Lewis is a fantastic writer...so where the hell did he go? He seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Google can't even find recent news about him, so I have to assume he's in the witness protection program.
July 10, 2008
I started off enjoying this book, but found that about half way through the story went off on a bit of a tangent which didn't really hold my interest.
August 9, 2012
Lots of sad people in this book. Yet another one that I wanted to give 3.5 stars.
July 17, 2011
The most amazing book...a masterpiece of emotion and story telling. Wow.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews