Matthew Pearl is the award-winning and bestselling author of the novels The Dante Club, The Poe Shadow, The Last Dickens, and The Technologists. His books have been New York Times bestsellers and international bestsellers translated into more than thirty languages.
Boston Globe:
“[A] historical jigsaw puzzle of literary larceny, deception, and
derring-do…[A] richly imagined account… The elite bookaneers were
also vindictive, spiteful and viciously ambitious, and Pearl has
buckets of fun exploring this world of thieves, spies, smugglers,
and tricksters in detailed depth…Packed with bookish love and
intrigue, THE LAST BOOKANEER winningly transforms what Pearl notes
in his afterword as a ‘fragment of legal and publishing history’
into fictional magic.”
Seattle Times:
“Matthew Pearl has a particular specialty: finding an obscure
corner of 19th-century history and spinning from it literary
fiction that is thought-provoking, enlightening, smoothly written —
and a ripping good story to boot…[THE LAST BOOKANEER is] another
bracing adventure set in the world of 19th-century literature
lovers…Pearl is a demon researcher, but THE LAST BOOKANEER wears
those studies lightly — there’s not a single dull lecture hall in
sight. The author’s passion for detail, combined with his gift for
balancing a leisurely pace with fast-moving action, makes for a
deeply satisfying experience.”
The Maine Edge:
“One more example of [Pearl’s] ability to bring history’s people
and places to vividly compelling life…Fast-paced and smart and
thoughtful - an altogether outstanding read...Pearl has taken a
relatively minor historical footnote and spun a thrilling,
fascinating tale of literary intrigue. The richness of the backdrop
– particularly the portrayal of Samoa – is textured and nuanced.
The reader tumbles headlong into the world being created, borne
across the land and sea by Pearl’s intricate narrative and
expressive prose.”
Everyday eBook:
Fans of Pearl will love the journey in this latest historical
thriller. The amount of time and effort that went into conducting
the appropriate research is evident throughout the book and it
brings to light an era of publishing that is as fascinating as it
is unknown. In a time where digital media is changing the landscape
of the publishing industry, this book reminds us that the means by
which a story is delivered is not as important as what we take from
it.
Kirkus (starred review):
“An entertaining adventure tale steeped in literary history…[Pearl]
offers many of the charms and unrushed distractions of a favorite
old bookstore.”
Library Journal (starred review):
“This swashbuckling tale of greed and great literature will remind
you why Pearl is the reigning king of popular literary historical
thrillers. His latest is guaranteed to delight lovers of history
and mystery.”
Publishers Weekly:
“In the days before e-books, self-publishing, and fan fiction,
publishing was an even riskier undertaking—or so Pearl makes an
entertaining case for in his latest, ingenious literary caper…Pearl
gives the bookaneers a lively fictitious history…and populates it
with a colorful cast of roguish characters…A loving testament to
the enduring power of paper books.”
Booklist:
“Writing mischievously clever novels about famous writers is
Pearl’s forte…Passionately researched and ebulliently
imagined…Pearl’s vividly descriptive and energetically plotted
novel churns and charms with intriguing literary history, acid
social critique, witty dialogue, and delectably surprising and
diabolical reversals and betrayals.”
Praise for THE DANTE CLUB
Janet Maslin, The New York Times:
"Working on a vast canvas, Mr. Pearl keeps this mystery sparkling
with erudition... with this captivating brain teaser as his debut
novel, seems also to have put his life's work on the line in
melding scholarship with mystery. He does justice to both."
Kimberley Strassel, The Wall Street Journal:
"Mr. Pearl's triumph is mixing these two cultures: wealthy,
cultivated men of letters faced with the mysterious and seedy
streets of a 19th-century Boston... creating not just a page-turner
but a beguiling look at the U.S. in an era when elites shaped the
course of learning and publishing. With this story of the Dante
Club's own descent into hell, Mr. Pearl's book will delight the
Dante novice and expert alike." Carlo Wolff, The Boston
Globe:
"How the club and the police compete and then converge is the
mystery and the thrill in a preternaturally accomplished book as
wise as it is entertaining. The Dante Club is a carefully plotted,
imaginatively shaped, and stylistically credible whodunit of
unusual class and intellect... The writing is passionate, the
narrative driven." David Lazarus, The San Francisco
Chronicle:
"A hell of a first novel... The Dante Club delivers in
spades."Adrienne Miller, Esquire:
"Audacious and captivating." Julie K. L. Dam, People
Magazine (Page Turner of the Week):
"Pearl, a graduate of Harvard and Yale Law School and a Dante
scholar, ably meshes the literary analysis with a suspenseful plot
and in the process humanizes the historical figures... A divine
mystery."
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