The Unconsoled is at once a gripping psychological mystery, a wicked
satire of the cult of art, and a poignant character study of a man whose
public life has accelerated beyond his control. The setting is a
nameless Central European city where Ryder, a renowned pianist, has come
to give the most important performance of his life. Instead, he finds
himself diverted on a series of cryptic and infuriating errands that
nevertheless provide him with vital clues to his own past. In The
Unconsoled Ishiguro creates a work that is itself a virtuoso
performance, strange, haunting, and resonant with humanity and wit.
"A work of great interest and originality.... Ishiguro has mapped out an
aesthetic territory that is all his own...frankly fantastic [and]
fiercer and funnier than before".-- "The New Yorker"