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Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
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English
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MR. BREAKFAST

Jonathan Carroll

There have been times in all of our lives where if we'd said yes instead of no (or no instead of yes), gone left instead of right, taken the intriguing job overseas, invested in that start-up, got married instead of staying single things would have been very different. Or at least we believe they might have been. Life is frequently full of choices. Most of us wonder at some point or another if we have made the right ones—the right partner, the right job, the right set of values. But we can never know for sure. We can never glimpse what lies beyond those doors we never stepped through, never know what could have been.

Except maybe we can.

Because of a single, innocent, spur-of-the-moment choice, Graham Patterson is permitted to see and experience the three different versions of how his future life will/can/might be. Surprising, frightening, beautiful, dangerous, and mysterious - these lives vary greatly, as do their fates. A world famous comedian, a prehistoric lizard, an attempted murder, a grand love affair, and a kidnapping all play parts in them. After experiencing time in each, Patterson is even permitted to choose which of them he would prefer. But even when he knows first-hand what those three lives would be like, his final choice is both startling and a revelation.

Jonathan Carroll is the author of seventeen novels, two story collections, and a collection of short essays. His work has been published in over thirty languages. He has won a Pushcart Prize, a World Fantasy award, a British Fantasy award, the French Fantasy award - twice!, and the Bram Stoker award. He has also been nominated for both the Lannen and Whiting awards and has over 110,000 followers on Facebook. He lives in Vienna.
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Published 2019-10-01 by Rebis

Comments

"Reading Jonathan Carroll, one thinks of a blind person stroking a drugged tiger-- an experience that is sensuous, dreamy, and dangerous all at once. And then, of course, the tiger wakes up." — Bruce Wagner

"Like Murakami, Brian Eno, or David Lynch, Jonathan Carroll is entirely sui generis, someone whose work is so fresh, weird, and original, it stands in a class of its own. Maybe the most striking thing about this lean, remarkable novel is Carroll's caffeinated curiosity about everything, his roving eye for everyday wonders, for the effervescent in the banal. MR. BREAKFAST is a small book of big ideas, a set of Russian nesting dolls with an entire universe glowing at the centre." – Joe Hill, bestselling author of HORNS, NOS4A2, and Netflix's recent LOCKE AND KEY

Interview on occasion of the publication in Poland Read more...

"I just finished it this minute. I'd slowed down in the last third, to savour the gorgeous intricacies. This is both such a characteristic book for you - a part of the Carroll mosaic - and a unique one. I love the nested quality, the Russian dolls resting one within the next, and I love the refractions as early scenes are reconsidered in light of later ones. I love the humour - the sly humour, and the dumb jokes and the surreally-simple/simply-surreal word combinations that are always your signature." – Jonathan Lethem, New York Times Bestselling author of Motherless Brooklyn and recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant.

"Mr. Breakfast is an absorbing study of what really matters in life." Read more...

UK & USA: Melville House;

"Few recent works of fiction in any genre have touched on the vagaries of life, love, and art more movingly or with deeper understanding. An intoxicating, deeply affecting novel by the influential fantasist." — Kirkus (starred review) "A compulsively readable, introspective tale about the road not taken... At its heart, this is an arresting and imaginative meditation on life. Perfect for fans of magical realism with a free-flowing style like that of David Mitchell and Toshikazu Kawaguchi." — Library Journal "Both wistfully melancholy and downright joyous." -- Locus Magazine "As always with the exceptionally imaginative Carroll, he creates complex worlds for his hero to inhabit and with clever crossovers between realms that are carefully thought out and fun to explore. Carroll's attention to details is impressive, and the unexpected prevails." — Booklist

An Amazon Best Book of January 2023: "Dazzlingly original (it's Jonathan Carroll, so no surprise there), slyly funny in places, thoughtfully and cleverly rendered, Mr. Breakfast is an exhilarating and moving meditation on how we deduce what matters most." —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor Read more...

"Jonathan Carroll is one of my favourite living writers. I just read his new novel, MR BREAKFAST. A beautiful, brilliant, meditation on art, love, inspiration and what makes life worthwhile. Such a treat." — Neil Gaiman