The Finished Man: A Novel

by Sean Murphy

Following the success of his wildly popular debut novel, Sean Murphy returns with a hip, imaginative, and slyly comedic tale set amidst a West Coast world of wildfires and wannabes, hipsters and heavy smog—offering a wry, rollicking look at love, the literati, and Southern California.

Frank, a penniless and hapless writer, has nothing to show for himself but an unfinished novel and an unclear future. So when he bumps into Max—an arrogant former classmate who is a terrible, but successful, author—Frank agrees to take up residence in his garage apartment. After all, a glimpse at the inner workings of Max's glittering life will provide great material for his book.

Soon, Frank is swept up in a world of glossy cocktail parties, nouveau-wealth, and near-celebrity—as well as a passionate love affair with Max's beautiful wife. And although his nemesis possesses everything Frank desires, he remains secure in his sense of artistic superiority—until Max's latest work heralds him as one of the great new voices in American literature. Seething with envy, Frank sets out to uncover the true source of his newfound talent and gets a lot more than he bargained for. Told in Murphy's distinctive, tongue-in-cheek style, this is a lively and engaging book that will appeal to Murphy's established fans and win him new ones.?

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

SEAN MURPHY'S debut novel, The Hope Valley Hubcap King, (Bantam/Dell, 2002/2004), won the Hemingway Award for a First Novel and was a 2003 Book Sense pick. See info on his latest, The Time of New Weather, below. He is also the author of the Pulitzer-nominated The Finished Man (Bantam/Dell 2004), as well as One Bird, One Stone (Renaissance/St. Martins 2002), a nonfiction chronicle of Zen practice in America. He has been a Zen meditation practitioner for 20 years, and teaches meditation, creative writing and literature for UNM-Taos, as well as leading writing workshops for a variety of organizations and his own Big Sky Writing Workshops

Reviews

[Tom Booth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps the worst book I've ever read. Every page has mundane adverbs. Pointless and poorly written.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I'm married to the author