Marx, Deceased: A Novel

An internationally renowned chemist presents his third novel, featuring a novelist who fakes his own death to see how his wife, his critics, and his biographer will treat his reputation. By the author of The Bourbaki Gambit. UP.

Obsessively curious about what others will say after his death, a prolific novelist stages his own death. After craftily penning his own obituary, Stephen Marx disappears, leaving his wife, Miriam, the media and a celebrity-hungry critic, Noah Berg, to complete the task. As Noah and Miriam begin work on a critical evaluation of Marx's writings--becoming romantically entangled on the side--Marx resurfaces in San Francisco as "D. Mann," the latest literary sensation. When a clever journalism student discovers his identity, she and Marx make a deal that could clinch her career and end his.