Swerve: a novel of divergence

by Rowland Saifi, Vincent James, McCormick Templeman

Swerve is a dreamscape detective novel caught up in a multiversal calamity. Swerve jostles and hums. Swerve might be Galileo's cousin, Margaret Cavendish’s niece, and Stephen Hawking’s step-child. Swerve is a once in a generation book that tells the story of three distinct detectives who move across the United States and beyond, uncovering pieces of a mercurial puzzle spanning space and time. As each section unfolds and is interpreted through the others, the detectives’ stories begin to collapse, rewrite, and ultimately, illuminate each other. Taking on a set of constraints (involving dice, reference authors, and geographic points) reminiscent of an OULIPO novel, Swerve invites readers to participate in the investigation alongside the characters, gathering clues, assembling narrative, and piecing together resonances. Come join the mystery—Swerve will not disappoint.
(from the Publisher)

219 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2021

About the author

Rowland Rahim Saifi grew up in Brazil and Arkansas before attending Naropa University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is the author of the novels Swerve and Lit Windows, and the novellas The Minotaur’s Daughter and Karner Blue Estates. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Fact-Simile, Marginalia, Bombay Gin, Livestock Review, Newfound Journal, and Kneejerk Magazine. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Denver in Colorado. He was co-curator of the Dikeou Literary Series from 2018-2020.

Reviews

[Joe Sacksteder · Rating 5 out of 5]

+++: "To feel a rage without a knowledge of origin or desire is to question one's legacy and legitimacy all at once." +++: "It is a place for forgetting so that we might understand." Lol: "Here's where the story takes a detour." Lolol: "'This is getting complicated'... 'Thank you.'" And the attic as the "superego of the house." And and the Spinning Platter Fishes—perhaps my favorite section. And and and that penultimate paragraph (not a spoiler)—so mysterious, a chill up my spine just with "Sometimes we do things like..." Really loved this shapeshifting, involuted oulipo noir rollercoaster.

[in8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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