Overview

To the untrained eye, the rabbi is far from desirable. He is lofty and disorderly, he is aging and constantly losing members of his flock. But, to one man, he is the object of obsession. When they're together, the two men torment, pleasure and manipulate one another. When they're apart, our narrator manically contemplates every element of the rabbi's being: his absent husband (who our narrator has also slept with), his alluring adopted son, his broken-down Pontiac, and maybe most of all, the universe between the rabbi's legs. Their relationship is tender but volatile, and their intimacy brews and curdles. Until, in an effort to sustain it, our narrator goes on an unrelenting, increasingly urgent quest to better understand his mercurial lover - one which threatens to upturn the lives of both men. Lavish and lascivious, My Lover, the Rabbi is an exuberant exploration of devotion and desire, and the extent to which we can ever really 'know' one another. His first novel in over twenty years, it cements Wayne Koestenbaum as one of the most acclaimed stylists of his generation.

Full Product Details

9781803514000

Table of Contents

Reviews

One of the most original and relentlessly obsessed cultural spies writing today. His alarmingly focused attention to detail goes beyond lunacy into hilarious and brilliant clarity -- John Waters Koestenbaum is an exuberant critic, enraptured poet, intoxicated historian... I can hardly think of a writer who is so exacting about his own enthusiasms, so diligent in his pursuit of joy, so principled in the defense of pleasure -- Brian Dillon Whatever his subject favorites include porn, punctuation and the poetry of Frank O'Hara the goal is always to jigger logic and language free of its moorings... His great and singular appeal is this fealty to his own desire and imagination... Figuring it out, after all, is a life sentence -- Parul Sehgal * The New York Times *

Like Ingeborg Bachman's Malina, My Lover, the Rabbi circles and penetrates the outer edges of perception and experience. It's a brilliant book, written with manic zeal and cool strategy -- Chris Kraus My literary version of heaven. Neurotic erotic bliss -- Melissa Broder Ecstatic, erotic, electric, and utterly captivating. You won't read anything else like it this year, possibly ever -- Andrew McMillan My Lover, The Rabbi is so intimate, so fearless, I couldn't put it down. Poetic and voyeuristic, thick with unflinching detail, I am in awe of this vulnerable, beautiful book -- Michelle Tea Wildly funny, proudly filthy, uncompromisingly committed to finding shapes for what really matters in life, this is an exceptional piece of writing. As obsessive as Proust, as entertaining as Almodovar, this deep dive into the strange equivalences of desire and loss is surely going to win Koestenbaum a whole new army of admirers -- Neil Bartlett One of the most original and relentlessly obsessed cultural spies writing today. His alarmingly focused attention to detail goes beyond lunacy into hilarious and brilliant clarity -- John Waters A writer and thinker for all time -- Maggie Nelson Koestenbaum is an exuberant critic, enraptured poet, intoxicated historian... I can hardly think of a writer who is so exacting about his own enthusiasms, so diligent in his pursuit of joy, so principled in the defense of pleasure -- Brian Dillon I'll go wherever putto, poet, painter and-little did you know-lounge crooner and ivory tinkler Wayne Koestenbaum wants to take me -- Rachel Kushner Whatever his subject favorites include porn, punctuation and the poetry of Frank O'Hara the goal is always to jigger logic and language free of its moorings... His great and singular appeal is this fealty to his own desire and imagination... Figuring it out, after all, is a life sentence -- Parul Sehgal * The New York Times * An incantatory novel that works its magic on the reader. My Lover, the Rabbi unfolds, sentence by sentence, at the mercy of language itself. No one writes like Wayne Koestenbaum and this book, like his prose, is playful, theatrical, surprising, sophisticated -- Lauren Aimee Curtis Much anticipated... Fans of Garth Greenwell will delight in Koestenbaum's demonstration of the sublime against corporeal obsession, play, need, humiliation, grief, desire, camp, refusal to engage in any heteronormative norms * Electric Lit *

Like Ingeborg Bachman's Malina, My Lover, the Rabbi circles and penetrates the outer edges of perception and experience. It's a brilliant book, written with manic zeal and cool strategy -- Chris Kraus Wildly funny, proudly filthy, uncompromisingly committed to finding shapes for what really matters in life, this is an exceptional piece of writing. As obsessive as Proust, as entertaining as Almodovar, this deep dive into the strange equivalences of desire and loss is surely going to win Koestenbaum a whole new army of admirers -- Neil Bartlett One of the most original and relentlessly obsessed cultural spies writing today. His alarmingly focused attention to detail goes beyond lunacy into hilarious and brilliant clarity -- John Waters A writer and thinker for all time -- Maggie Nelson I'll go wherever putto, poet, painter and-little did you know-lounge crooner and ivory tinkler Wayne Koestenbaum wants to take me -- Rachel Kushner Koestenbaum is an exuberant critic, enraptured poet, intoxicated historian... I can hardly think of a writer who is so exacting about his own enthusiasms, so diligent in his pursuit of joy, so principled in the defense of pleasure -- Brian Dillon Whatever his subject favorites include porn, punctuation and the poetry of Frank O'Hara the goal is always to jigger logic and language free of its moorings... His great and singular appeal is this fealty to his own desire and imagination... Figuring it out, after all, is a life sentence -- Parul Sehgal * The New York Times *

One of the most original and relentlessly obsessed cultural spies writing today. His alarmingly focused attention to detail goes beyond lunacy into hilarious and brilliant clarity -- John Waters A writer and thinker for all time -- Maggie Nelson I'll go wherever putto, poet, painter and-little did you know-lounge crooner and ivory tinkler Wayne Koestenbaum wants to take me -- Rachel Kushner Koestenbaum is an exuberant critic, enraptured poet, intoxicated historian... I can hardly think of a writer who is so exacting about his own enthusiasms, so diligent in his pursuit of joy, so principled in the defense of pleasure -- Brian Dillon Whatever his subject favorites include porn, punctuation and the poetry of Frank O'Hara the goal is always to jigger logic and language free of its moorings... His great and singular appeal is this fealty to his own desire and imagination... Figuring it out, after all, is a life sentence -- Parul Sehgal * The New York Times * Wildly funny, proudly filthy, uncompromisingly committed to finding shapes for what really matters in life, this is an exceptional piece of writing. As obsessive as Proust, as entertaining as Almodovar, this deep dive into the strange equivalences of desire and loss is surely going to win Koestenbaum a whole new army of admirers -- Neil Bartlett

Author Information

Wayne Koestenbaum is a poet, critic, novelist, artist and performer - he has published over twenty books, including Camp Marmalade, Notes on Glaze, The Pink Trance Notebooks, My 1980s & Other Essays, Hotel Theory, Best-Selling Jewish Porn Films, Andy Warhol, Humiliation, and Jackie Under My Skin.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available