The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer

The Confessions of Max Tivoli

Andrew Sean Greer

Max Tivoli was born aged 70 and then ages backwards. Aged 17, but looking 53, he meets Alice aged 14 and so begins his lifelong obsession. A stunningly complex and compelling examination of the nature of love and what it means to be a 'monster', as Max calls himself. Would provide reading groups with plenty to discuss.

Extract
A worthless bug but it loved her. It lived to watch her. And in its last days - for life is short for wasps - it closed up its home, stepped out from its lantern porch, dipped twice into the air, and fell at last into her life. It died, of course. A smear of brownish blood. It is a brave and stupid thing, a beautiful thing to waste one's life for love.
Parallels
  • The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Mutton by F Scott Fitzgerald
  • The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen
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Explicit sexual content