The Valeries

by Forrest Muelrath

A grief counselor attempts to launder the hideous exploits between his son and a famous politician through the novel-writing process and in doing so becomes a different person, a body of words. A legalistic maneuver to ostensibly guard his family’s reputation via copyright becomes a solipsistic plunge into a lurid spectacle of family trauma, a narrative device to yield confession from a would-be savior’s crisis of faith. Verisimilitude cracks, reality stranger than fiction, and the news becomes a carousel of sliding doors, tabloid becomes marquee, and anyone could be anyone, even the least suspected a person of interest. A feat of formal and stylistic detournement, a forgery of ontological dimensions and licentious scandal fluent in Lacanian psychoanalysis, synthesizers and cinema, Forrest Muelrath’s debut novel The Valeries takes the dark, revealing heart of American conspiracy dripping to the seats of gubernatorial power and halls of elected high office. An internal monologue externalized as digital correspondence, intimate rumination and grandiose indictment, gallows comedy and psychic noir for an unprecedented political era. As the narrator’s motives unravel, the blackmail itself becomes a work of live art, a mirror to distort the grief counselor’s suppositions and wrap them in the decrepit national mood and spirit. Beyond entanglement lies dangerous hubris and innovation. Lose everything. Everything else is waiting.

Genres: Fiction

168 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2024

Reviews

[moonandmouth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compulsively fun, psychoanalytic, epistolary novel, from the point of view of a rural grief counselor. An indictment of modernity, technology, politics, sociocultural epiphenomena, and the girl reading this...

[Eric Subpar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just an absolute stunner. Immaculate prose. Compelling premise with enough legs to explore the various ideas it presents. Builds this impressive tether between epistolary and stream-of-consciousness that requires a level of control I am envious of. Absolutely adored this book.

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey you--the person reading this review: I know what you've been doing to my son. You've been dressing him up as Eric Cartman and forcing him to watch Family Guy. You've been taking pictures of him as he digs holes in your backyard. You've even been hiding under his bed at night. I know, because I watched you do it from inside his closet! If you want to stop me from alerting the authorities about your heinous activities, there's only one thing you can do: go read The Valeries by Forrest Muelrath. Once you write me a five paragraph essay about its major themes, I'll consider letting you off the hook.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A psychosexual deep-dive into deviant appetites and exploitation. The Valeries is a literary matryoshka, obscuring intent and motivation, deftly blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

[Gabriel Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

While there were countless great novels released last year, The Valeries would be my favorite 2024 debut novel. An incredible first statement from Muelrath, and highly anticipated one at that. I could go on and on here, but I've already reviewed it in the upcoming issue 3 of our print-only magazine Beyond the Last Estate and since it's print-only, you have to pay us money to see the review, as well as our NYC correspondent's review of Muelrath's book release gathering, hosted by Muelrath's publisher, Expat Press. You see, we can't just give you everything for free and at the click of a button at Beyond the Last Estate. We are a one-of-a kind print-only magazine that aims to document the international underground literary scene at large, "creative reporting on contemporary literature," if you will. And you should. Write: beyondthelastestate@gmail.com. Also, you should buy The Valeries. Best debut novel of 2024.

[John Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wild book that will make some people uncomfortable, but others will think is a blast. It's a tale of an angry and anxious father who has discovered that his son has had a debauched affair with a politician, and so writes a long series of emails to this politician which essentially describe the man's own psychological downfall. Intermittently, emails between the son and politician are pasted in, and the whole thing is quite sordid. Some readers will find the depths of the depravity too awful to want to move forward with, but there are gems to be mined as well. Often, the book is quite funny, and in a style similar to Nobakov's Pale Fire, what is actually revealed is the tormented mind of the narrator.

[Christopher Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.thepensivequill.com/2025/...

[Zachary Salmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not many books could live up to a tagline like “Nabokov protagonist doing cultural criticism in an increasingly unhinged email to a Biden”, but this one does. Incredibly well crafted and a fun read to boot.