Lucas Schaefer

Franzen/Roth/Irving comparisons are earned and deserved... Not since Nathan Hill’s The Nix have we seen a debut as hugely ambitious as this one

Wildly ambitious and immensely rewarding, a maximalist debut that brings to mind Zadie Smith’s White Teeth in its stylistic brio, vivid sociological detail and general air of chutzpah. You’re unlikely to read a more impressive first novel this year

Wildly, transgressively hilarious, reminiscent of Philip Roth’s early novels . . . This is a high-wire act, but the breadth of Schaefer’s affection feels as wide as the depth of his comedy

This is a character-based pop novel done right: accessible, unpretentious, hard-hitting . . . A tremendously strong novel

Lucas Schaefer writes with a self-assurance that’s stylish but not showy. Fans of John Irving, Paul Murray and Nathan Hill will find a whole lot to love in this knockout of a novel

A big, bold, brave, brilliant beast of a novel. Uproarious and tender, epic in scope and intimate in portraiture, crammed with so many outlandish incidents and exquisitely rendered characters you'll wonder how one novel can possibly contain them all, but Schaefer pulls it off with aplomb. As fearless and enjoyable a debut as you're likely to read this year

A sweaty masterpiece . . . Honestly, I haven’t felt quite like this about a book since I was dazzled by Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections almost 25 years ago. But despite his equally capacious reach, Schaefer is no Franzen wannabe. If anything, he’s looser, confident enough to be sweet, and despite his richly comic voice, this satiric tongue never develops fangs . . . I spent most of the week not just reading this story but cheering it on in a state of unhinged excitement

In downtown Austin in the summer of 1998, a scrawny, pasty, unpopular teenager called Nathaniel Rothstein walks into Terry Tucker’s Boxing Gym. For weeks he comes back almost every day, working out obsessively, transforming himself. Then one night at the height of summer, he disappears. Nathaniel Rothstein is never seen again. 
 
The Slip follows the extraordinary, unpredictable fallout of this mystery across twenty years – as Nathaniel’s disappearance saves some lives and ruins others. The Slip is a majestic, far-reaching novel of the immortal American dream, drawing together a dizzying cast of characters and grappling with all the ways, good and bad, chosen and forced, that a person can slip out of their own story – and into someone else’s.

Lucas Schaefer

Praise for The Slip

**Franzen/Roth/Irving comparisons are earned and deserved... Not since Nathan Hill’s The Nix have we seen a debut as hugely ambitious as this one**

Wildly ambitious and immensely rewarding, a maximalist debut that brings to mind Zadie Smith’s White Teeth in its stylistic brio, vivid sociological detail and general air of chutzpah. You’re unlikely ...

Wildly, transgressively hilarious, reminiscent of Philip Roth’s early novels . . . This is a high-wire act, but the breadth of Schaefer’s affection feels as wide as the depth of his comedy

**Franzen/Roth/Irving comparisons are earned and deserved... Not since Nathan Hill’s The Nix have we seen a debut as hugely ambitious as this one**

Wildly ambitious and immensely rewarding, a maximalist debut that brings to mind Zadie Smith’s White Teeth in its stylistic brio, vivid sociological detail and general air of chutzpah. You’re unlikely ...

Wildly, transgressively hilarious, reminiscent of Philip Roth’s early novels . . . This is a high-wire act, but the breadth of Schaefer’s affection feels as wide as the depth of his comedy

**Franzen/Roth/Irving comparisons are earned and deserved... Not since Nathan Hill’s The Nix have we seen a debut as hugely ambitious as this one**

Wildly ambitious and immensely rewarding, a maximalist debut that brings to mind Zadie Smith’s White Teeth in its stylistic brio, vivid sociological detail and general air of chutzpah. You’re unlikely ...

Wildly, transgressively hilarious, reminiscent of Philip Roth’s early novels . . . This is a high-wire act, but the breadth of Schaefer’s affection feels as wide as the depth of his comedy

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