A tender affair and the redemptive power of art are at the core of
this compelling novel from National Book Award finalist Allegra
Goodman, "a romantic realist who dazzles with wit [and] compassion"
(The Wall Street Journal).**
Collin James is young, creative, and unhappy. A college dropout, he
waits tables and spends his free time beautifying the streets of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his medium of choice: chalk. Collin's art
captivates passersby with its vibrant colors and intricate lines--until
the moment he wipes it all away. Nothing in Collin's life is meant to
last. Then he meets Nina. . . .
The daughter of a tech mogul who is revolutionizing virtual reality,
Nina Lazare is trying to give back as a high school teacher--but her
students won't listen to her. When Collin enters her world, he inspires
her to think bigger. Nina wants to return the favor--even if it means
losing him.
Against this poignant backdrop, Allegra Goodman paints a tableau of
students, neighbors, and colleagues: Diana, a teenage girl trying to
make herself invisible; her twin brother, Aidan, who's addicted to the
games produced by Nina's father; and Daphne, a viral-marketing trickster
who unites them all, for better or worse.
Wise, warm, and enchanting, The Chalk Artist is both a finely rendered
portrait of modern love and a celebration of all the realms we inhabit:
real and imagined, visual and virtual, seemingly independent yet
hopelessly tangled.
Praise for The Chalk Artist
"The virtual world Goodman conjures is as feverishly vivid as it is
mysterious and alluring. Not since I pushed my way through C. S. Lewis's
fusty mothballed wardrobe and stepped out into the frozen, pine-scented
forests of Narnia can I remember being so effectively transported into a
viscerally, sometimes terrifyingly plausible alternate universe. . . .
This is a novel full of wit and spark. . . . Irresistible and
arresting."--The New York Times Book Review
"Enjoyably sharp dialogue and convincing portraits of multiple mindsets
and terrains . . . One can't help but marvel at how Goodman has captured
the atmosphere of this virtual fantasy land so effectively in
words."--NPR
"Mesmerizing depictions of virtual-reality landscapes of 'Neverwhen' and
'Underworld' make the games' dangerous power over one of Nina's students
very real."--People
"Goodman's latest combines fantastical flourishes (an imagined video
game called 'Underworld') and realistic Cambridge details . . . in a
narrative about art and ambition."--The Boston Globe
"Allegra Goodman creates suspense where you might least expect to find
it."--The Atlantic
