Sharply observed and brilliantly plotted, Stars and Barsis an uproarious portrait of culture clash deep in the heart of the American South, by one of contemporary literature’s most imaginative novelists.
A recent transfer to Manhattan has inspired art assessor Henderson Dores to shed his British reserve and aspire to the impulsive and breezy nature of Americans. But when Loomis Gage, an eccentric millionaire, invites him to appraise his small collection of Impressionist paintings, Dores's plans quite literally go south. Stranded at a remote mansion in the Georgia countryside, Dores is received by the bizarre Gage family with Anglophobic slurs, nausea-inducing food, ludicrous death threats, and a menacing face off with competing art dealers. By the time he manages to sneak back to New York City–sporting only a cardboard box–Henderson Dores realizes he is fast on the way to becoming a naturalized citizen.
“William Boyd has written a perfect book. He is funnier than Evelyn Waugh.”–Los Angeles Times
“Stands in the great tradition of the English comic novel.”–The Boston Globe
“There’s hardly a writer around whose work offers more pleasure and satisfaction.”–The Washington Post
WILLIAM BOYD was born in 1952 in Accra, Ghana, and grew up there and in Nigeria. He is the award-winning author of seventeen highly acclaimed novels and five collections of stories. He divides his time between London and France.
View titles by William Boyd
Sharply observed and brilliantly plotted, Stars and Barsis an uproarious portrait of culture clash deep in the heart of the American South, by one of contemporary literature’s most imaginative novelists.
A recent transfer to Manhattan has inspired art assessor Henderson Dores to shed his British reserve and aspire to the impulsive and breezy nature of Americans. But when Loomis Gage, an eccentric millionaire, invites him to appraise his small collection of Impressionist paintings, Dores's plans quite literally go south. Stranded at a remote mansion in the Georgia countryside, Dores is received by the bizarre Gage family with Anglophobic slurs, nausea-inducing food, ludicrous death threats, and a menacing face off with competing art dealers. By the time he manages to sneak back to New York City–sporting only a cardboard box–Henderson Dores realizes he is fast on the way to becoming a naturalized citizen.
Praise
“William Boyd has written a perfect book. He is funnier than Evelyn Waugh.”–Los Angeles Times
“Stands in the great tradition of the English comic novel.”–The Boston Globe
“There’s hardly a writer around whose work offers more pleasure and satisfaction.”–The Washington Post
WILLIAM BOYD was born in 1952 in Accra, Ghana, and grew up there and in Nigeria. He is the award-winning author of seventeen highly acclaimed novels and five collections of stories. He divides his time between London and France.
View titles by William Boyd
