The Ticking Heart

by Andrew Kaufman

“Expansive and imaginative.” — Kirkus Reviews



“Irreverent and bursting prose... Fans of Mark Leyner will enjoy Kaufman’s messy string of outrageous scenarios.” — Publishers Weekly



Part modern fable, part detective novel, a journey through grief in the imaginary world of Metaphoria.

One cold winter night, Charlie shares a cab with a stranger in a purple hat. As they talk, a cloud of purple smoke overwhelms him and he wakes up to find himself behind the only desk in the Epiphany Detective Agency. Charlie, as it turns out, is trapped in Metaphoria, an otherworldly place that reality has forgotten, a place where everything means something else. His first client is Shirley Miller, who insists on hiring Charlie to find her husband's missing heart. In fact, she's so insistent that she replaces Charlie's heart with a bomb. He has twenty-four hours to find Twiggy Miller's heart - and its meaning - or his own will explode.



Tender and brutal, optimistic and despairing, this modern fable by the author of the cult hit All My Friends Are Superheroes takes a fresh look at what it means to fall into, and out of, love.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Magical Realism

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2019

About the author

ANDREW KAUFMAN's critically acclaimed first book, All My Friends Are Superheroes, was a cult hit and has been translated into six languages. Kaufman is also an accomplished screenwriter, film-maker and radio producer and has completed a Director's Residency at the Canadian Film Centre. He lives in Toronto with his wife and their two children.

Reviews

[Virginie Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book of 2021: check!

At first, I really appreciated discovering Metaphoria, the universe created by Kaufman in this unique novel, and I was ready to rate it 4 stars. I liked how I never knew what was going to happen. Kaufman sure has a lot of imagination!

Despite that, I got a little bored in the second half and realized I wasn't moved by the story nor by the characters... I also found the ending a bit abrupt.

So... 2.5 stars rounded up it is, even if I did enjoy all the double meanings (and I probably missed some of them!) and the thoughts about how hope and love affect our lives.

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise sounded promising and the narration was good. However I completely forgot that I've listened to this or what happened in the book, so clearly it didn't grab my attention as much as I thought it did

[Wiebke (1book1review) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to reread this to get all the little things the book has to offer.
It's a wonderful story making full use of the author's skill of taking ordinary people with mundane problems to focus on and work through.
Loved it.

Picked it up again and just love the writing and the focus on small things. Just as enjoyable the second time around.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep going back and forth with how I feel about this book. I settled for 2.5 stars because I couldn’t quite give it 3.

This book is….interesting. I think that’s the best word I can use to describe it. I don’t really like Charlie or relate to his predicament, not because I can’t relate to a relationship ending, but because I don’t understand his emotions about it. The whole point of Charlie’s experience in Metaphoria is that he’s supposed to understand that there is such thing as a hope that holds us back. Charlie hopes to get back together with a wife he recognizes that he doesn’t love anymore. It’s difficult to understand, but not impossible. I just kept getting frustrated with Charlie going back and forth about his ex-wife, while at the same time attempting a new relationship with Wanda. He couldn’t figure himself out, which was the point and was why he was in Metaphoria.

This book has a big Alice in Wonderland vibe. It’s got everything but a white rabbit running around with a pocket-watch. I liked the creativity involved with creating a place where all emotions are tangible objects. I just wanted more from the story itself. I felt like so much effort was put into designing this world of real metaphors that the plot lost some much-needed detail.

Is it a Must Read?
I would say no, but if you like oddly whimsical, over the top, magical realism, you might enjoy it.

[Tim Ewins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve followed Andrew Kaufman’s books since I read All My Friends Are Superheroes a while back. I’ve loved all his books but for me, this one stands out. The simplicity of the idea is genius and the complexity of the execution of that idea is tackled fantastically. Every sentence has something to offer, so much so that the books begs to be reread over and over. Having said that, it is in no way difficult to read. Quite an achievement!

I will reread this book, definitely, but mainly just because I enjoyed reading it so much. It’s quirky, heartfelt, fun and depressing all at the same time. 100% recommended!

[Reshma · Rating 3 out of 5]

You would think it's about love (and it is), but (to me) it seems more about hope. Hope's many facets and how it can even rot. Sometimes hope can stop and hold you in one place for years, even lifetimes. That hope has to be released in some cases in order to be able to move forward. Acknowledge you're a mess and then, work through it.

[Mélina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je n’avais aucune attente en débutant ce livre. Je l’ai loué parce que j’aimais la couverture et que le résumé avait attiré ma curiosité. On se retrouve dans un monde à la « Alice’s Wonderland », où le personnage principal doit trouver la réponse à la question : À quoi sert le cœur humain? S’il ne trouve pas, la bombe, qui se trouve à la place de son cœur, explosera et il lui sera impossible de retourner dans le monde réel auprès des siens. J’ai aimé me laisser porter par la course contre la montre de Charlie. C’est un beau livre original, qui m’a permis de sortir de mon creux de lecture!

[Lexi Lindenmayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

maybe 3.5 stars but I liked the ending

I feel like the only way to truly appreciate an Andrew Kaufman book is by reading it in a high school English class

[Christelle]

postbreakup: 5/5
une recherche sur à quoi ça sert, un coeur, aimer, l'espoir, à travers des métaphores -- une ville entière de métaphores -- ça me parle

[Tobias Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Det finns böcker som smyger in livsfilosofi och krystade metaforer, men i Charlies resa genom Metaphoria är de medvetet övertydliga. Smart gjort och jag gillar verkligen Andrew Kaufmans böcker, men den här var för lång så den får bara en trea.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The entire time I was reading The Ticking Heart I couldn't help but think how similar it was to Carroll's work (really, anything written in this manner will harken back to Carroll). It was playful and imaginative and really quite good.

The thing is...I don't really like Carroll. After reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland too many times (I read it for pleasure and quite enjoyed it - however, it was required reading for three of my classes throughout university and the sense of joy and exuberance I had originally felt through the text was continuously drained by close rereadings and the necessitated essays and exam questions) I find it difficult to stomach Carroll or his style.

I think Kaufman does quite an excellent job taking the absurdisms found in Wonderland and translating them well to fit his agenda. As a result, The Ticking Heart is wildly playful and enjoyable but I feel that it is lacking in creating emotional resonance with the reader because Charlie is too flat - there isn't enough depth to make him or his being lost really impact the reader. He feels too generalized (maybe that's the point) and is lacking any personality (again, maybe that's the point: that his personality is essentially that he is heartbroken [and that being heartbroken is not in a sense a personality no matter how much you feel it identifies who you are]).

I do think it will affect most of its readers but personally I feel that it won't really stay close to my heart or impact me after I finish process my immediate post-reading thoughts. That being said - it might grow on me as time passes (absence makes the heart grow stronger or something).

[Libris Addictus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un petit roman métaphorique sur l'amour et la crise de la quarantaine, qui est aussi un pastiche de roman noir surréaliste, un enchaînement de mésaventures absurdes et un parcours initiatique, parsemé de pensées psycho-pop sur l'amour et le couple. Le romantisme naïf en prend pour son rhume, et on apprend avec légèreté à accepter que l'amour ne dure pas toujours.

J'aime bien les histoires imaginatives, mais je dois dire que j'ai eu un peu de mal à embarquer dans celle-ci. Au début de ma lecture, j'ai trouvé que le concept était trop poussé, au détriment de l'histoire. J'ai tout de même fini par me laisser emportée par les péripéties délirantes. Ce n'est peut-être pas l'intrigue du siècle, mais c'est un feel good book créatif, original et divertissant!

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[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always suffer a little of bit of trepidation when an author I've followed for years releases a new book. I'm always waiting for the almost inevitable decline in quality in their writing. Happily, that is definitely isn't the case here. The Ticking Heart is classic Kaufman; a perfect amount humour, sweetness, as well as heart, encased in a crispy quirky coating.

The story was engaging from the onset, and the my only disappointment with the book was that it was over so quickly.

Just a genuine delightful read. Perfect little pick-me-up.

Highly recommended.

With kind thank to Netgalley and Coach House Books for the ARC.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actively hated this book. It did have nice paper though.

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

" 'Repent, Harlequin!' , Said the Ticktockman "

Reading bizarro, surreal, or meta fiction can sometimes be an unrewarding, or at least not very entertaining, chore. Not so here. This book is buoyed by sly good humor and the relaxed belief on the part of the author that the reader can take a joke. Here, the metaphor IS the metaphor, which is the meta joke. How you embrace the book is your choice. You can go along for the spiffy ride or you can, as your inclinations dictate, search through for deeper and deeper layers of meaning and insight about love and hope and moving on from heartbreak.

I tend toward the middle path. This book isn't composed of just cute wordplay or puns or exuberant randomness. There are points being made here and arguably there is serious business afoot. But on the other hand this is not tedious, heavy or pedantic. The heart is a symbol or metaphor for every emotion, condition, state, or circumstance that matters, and our author invites us to address as many meanings as we like, with as much or as little solemnity or rigor as we care to invest.

So, there's a plot, with characters and suspense and a resolution, if all you want or need is a slightly confusing but cheerful and accessible plot and story. Our hero is a private detective, so he meets a lot of characters, asks a lot of questions, goes to a lot if places, and has a lot of adventures and experiences. It's magical and fabulous, although it always makes sense. The angles keep changing and there's a fresh experience around every corner. As a result, there are plenty of hidden eggs to find and put in your basket if you are that sort of reader. Heck, there might even be something really weighty or life altering here if you are a more perceptive reader than I am.

However you approach it, though, this is a unique, subtle, raucous, and engaging read, and a wonderful find and tonic.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to Coach House Books for an eARC via NetGalley of Andrew Kaufman’s ‘The Ticking Heart’ in exchange for an honest review.

I am not certain what I just read. Its premise certainly seemed interesting and quirky. After nearly two years Charlie Waterfield isn’t adjusting to the breakup with his wife. He is lonely. When he orders an Über he isn’t pleased to find that he is sharing with a stranger in a large purple hat. He man in the hat tells Charlie about the city of Metaphoria and before Charlie knows it there is a cloud of purple smoke and poof! ...

Charlie finds that he is behind the only desk in the Epiphany Detective Agency in ....Metaphoria. His first client is Shirley Kintsugi who wants Charlie to find her husband’s missing heart. She insists that he takes the case and to make sure that he does she plunges a knife into his chest, removes his heart and replaces it with a bomb with a 24-hour countdown. That’s quite an incentive!

Ok well that explains the title and it’s clear that this short novel is meant to be dreamlike or nightmarish. I am not familiar with Andrew Kaufman though a brief investigation reveals that his novels seem to involve metaphoric elements. I quite enjoy fables, metaphors, and the surreal but here the character and setting just didn’t click with me.

My reading experience was also difficult from a technical perspective as there was only an ePub edition to download and the text size was so teeny tiny and would not increase in size via settings. This made it very hard to read even with strong reading glasses.

It was a difficult novel to rate. I decided on 2.5 stars and rounded up to 3 as the technical problems I experienced were not really indicative of the novel’s content.

[Posey · Rating 3 out of 5]

what tf did I just read????
I bought this book today (2/24/24) kind of on a whim but also out of genuine intrigue for the back cover blurb. This is a short book but WOW this is a densely packed piece of literature with lots of sh*t (crazy sh*t) going on. To sum this book up in several phrases: 'The Ticking Heart' has a capriciously shifting plot like that of a dream; Quentin Tarantino-esque, neo-noir action; matter-of-fact and whimsically candid dialogue of Wes Anderson films; and an eerie feeling toward the mundane a la Stepford Wives. If that sounds like quite the mindf*ck, you're right. And YET! despite how much this book made me furrow my brow out of confusion (and sometimes, in horror), I found it exceedingly clever and LOL-funny. I would even go so far as to call this book, at specific times,... touching and profound (?).

What one might guess to be an overly affected piece of literature with grandiose efforts to make a huge statement about individual people and society through the employment of heavily layered literary and rhetorical devices is ACTUALLY a book that takes the proverbial- the metaphorical- and makes it LITERAL. So painfully and hilariously literal that the author saying outright what is the meaning of everything is not redundant but, rather, consistent with how Metaphoria works.

There is so much more to say about this book, and I need someone else to read it with whom I can discuss it. If you're a friend and you find this book interesting enough to pick up or you feel bad enough for me in my perturbation to pick it up, let me know and I'd love to chat.

[Lacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short read, but such a cleverly written allegory on relationships, heartbreak, and ourselves. It uses noir fiction vibes to illustrate the many angles and facets of hope, self-image, brokenness, and epiphanies, and I couldn’t help thinking of the friends that I am, again, walking through heartbreak with. Each character in Metaphoria arrives there because of an inaccuracy in how they perceive love and relationships, and their only escape is to understand something true and unique to their situation — such as the nature of misguided hope, distinguishing between self-love and love for their partner, or finding the courage to love again despite disadvantaged beginnings in life. There’s a lot of wisdom so cleverly shared in this book, and I just found it such a joy to read.

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Coach House Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

From the off, I have to say I had massive problems downloading this file - I tried at least six options, variations and work-arounds, and judging by the info on Goodreads, I think I was only able to download and read the first part of this book. What I was able to read, I really enjoyed. I liked the quirkiness and creativity the author used to illustrate the philosophical underpinnings of life, and the resolution of the hero's predicament. The elements the author introduced reminded me a lot of one of my favorite children's books, "The Phantom Tollbooth", and I found it a very satisfying read.

[Christel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was quite interesting. I understood the story and quite liked it. But at some moments i was a bit confused about how things happened. Or just a little confused in general, idk exactly. So therefore i don't quite know how to feel about this book. It was good enough at least that i did enjoy myself. And it was also fast to read, just not always that easy. Liked the heart morse code moments, but it was not easy to read to constantly go back and stuff to check what it is. The flow was a bit gone because of it. So i wrote the letter underneath with pencil, made it so much easier. The ending was nice.

[Tin Minute · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland and an old timey detective movie. The lead character is divorced, in a loving relationship, and has children who still actively want to be around him. Unfortunately, he's still stuck in past, missing his married life and the way his family used to be.

On the evening of his birthday, he gets into an uber and is transported to another world where everyone and everything means more than what's at face value. All of this is only to answer one question... What is the purpose of the human heart...

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Une rupture dont il n'arrive pas à se remettre est l'élément déclencheur de cette fable fantaisiste qui transporte Charlie Waterfield dans une sorte de monde parallèle où il devra trouver des réponses et les accepter, même si ce ne sont pas celles qu'il aurait désirées. Un conte qui prouve bien que l'imaginaire peut nous aider à passer à travers de dures épreuves.
J'ai bien aimé cet univers remplie de métaphores mais je dois avouer que j'ai fini par perdre un peu d'intérêt au long du récit.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

What does it mean to truly lose your heart? And how do you get it back?
Charlie seems unable to get past his failed marriage and move on with his life. A strange encounter sends him to Metaphoria, where the search for his heart begins.
I enjoyed this short book and the odd quirks of Metaphoria. The characters were as quirky as the city. The intermittent "poofs" were well placed and nicely done. Plus I love a book with a message. A great story to read when you just want your mind to wander.

[Hadi Atallah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The protagonist's developing character and odyssey are different in this one. The plot is very unique and metaphorical. Literally! Metaphoria is a world of poetry and sentience, and it was quite exceptional how the author managed to tackle several emotional elements.
I really liked how this book was different, at least for me.
Best of luck and thanks for the opportunity.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, its a pretty niche scifi/fantasy novel that wont appeal to everyone.

The concept of metaphoria had me intrigued and the detective agency was a brilliant idea.

The theme throughout the book of the ticking heart was good.

Definitely worth a read and not your typical detective/scifi/ personal growth book.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fever dream of an exploration of love. I enjoyed the innovation of the story - not every writer would have the ability to make an internal journey into an acid trip of discovery, visualized.

I wouldn't read it again, and I didn't find it compelling, but the writing and choice of direction was quite neat.

[Rhia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like Andrew Kauffman usually, but this just felt like a cross between The Phantom Tollbooth for adults and a less-creative version of Drew Margary's The Hike. (Read that one, it's a mind $%!@)

[Nuzhat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely short, witty, and sweet, this book reads like the Phantom Tollbooth for adults. It’s a fast read that is poignant in what it is trying to say about love and everyone’s personal struggle to define what that means for them. Very charming.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was quirky and clever, but it just fell a little flat for me. Maybe too quirky. However, I could relate! And it did give me a lot to think about. 3.5

[Lars Stuyts · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars! Odd, Weird, Tender, and full of hard truths we all learn. It will speak to some more then others, and who knows maybe the occasional “Poof” will occur.