The immortal shadow of Elvis Presley gyrates wildly through this satiric
exploration of America's fascination with tabloid journalism.
--Publishers Weekly
Thoroughly entertaining . . . A quirky, hard-edged, slightly absurdist
thriller from a writer who definitely bears watching. --Booklist
"In his paean to the perplexities of dislocation and discovery--both in
bohemian life and in life at large--Nersesian makes us eager to see what
happens when the curtain finally rises."--The New York Times Book
Review, on Unlubricated
Things have not been going well for journalist Sandy Bloomgarten. Her
job went down the drain and her marriage quickly followed. After a
lengthy bender, she awakens one morning to the stark realization that
she is flat broke. Nonetheless, she's still a crack reporter and when a
tabloid offers her a freelance assignment in Memphis--just a stone's
throw from her childhood home in Mesopotamia, Tennessee--she takes it.
Though sent there for one story, she winds up tracking down another:
someone is killing Elvis impersonators who perform at the annual
Sing-the-King festival. The few clues lead her to several unlikely
characters: a cheating local minister constantly on the make, a strange
band of misfits who only cover Elvis tunes, and a small-town private eye
who blew himself up along with his crystal meth lab. As Sandy's
investigation closes, she realizes that she is sitting on what could be
the story of the century. The only problem is she can never reveal what
she has found.
Arthur Nersesian's latest novel is a satiric thriller that takes an
amusing view of America's predilection with the superficial over the
relevant, and celebrity excitement over real news.
Arthur Nersesian is the author of nine novels, including the
cult-classic The Fuck-Up (more than 100,000 copies sold), dogrun,
and Suicide Casanova. He lives in New York City.
