Kapitoil : A Novel
Author(s): Teddy Wayne
“Teddy Wayne has written a brilliant book. Karim Issar is one of the freshest, funniest heroes I’ve come across in a long time.”
— Ben Fountain, bestselling author of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara
“An innovative and incisive meditation on the wages of corporate greed, the fundamental darkness of its vision lit by the author’s great comic intelligence and wit.”
— Kathryn Davis, author of The Thin Place, Hell: A Novel, and Versailles
With a fresh and singular voice, Teddy Wayne marks his literary debut with the story of one 26 year old Middle Eastern man’s attempt to live the American Dream in New York City. Like the award-winning Netherland and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Kapitoil provides an absorbing look into American culture and New York finance from an outsider’s perspective.
Review(s):
“KAPITOIL is one of those uncommon novels that really is novel. Though the storytelling is conventional, it is satisfyingly so, and the book’s estimable young narrator is a human type whom nobody until Wayne was ever inspired to write about.”
“[A] brilliant book. Karim Issar is one of the freshest, funniest heroes I’ve come across in a long time... In its honesty, humor, intelligence, and hard-won wisdom, Kapitoil is ‘Karim-esque’ to the nth degree, and that is a very good way to be.”
“What a wonderful character Karim is—the hapless, hilarious, math-obsessed hero of Teddy Wayne’s first novel. KAPITOIL is a delight. Who knew oil futures could be such fun?”
“Teddy Wayne’s debut novel is an innovative and incisive meditation on the wages of corporate greed, the fundamental darkness of its vision lit by the author’s great comic intelligence and wit.”
“This wonderfully assured debut novel, at once poignant, insightful, and funny…is a delight. Best of all, however, is simply being inside Karim’s head as he ponders Jackson Pollock’s paintings, baseball, programming, and the mysteries of love and life in the U.S. ”
“[A] strong and heartfelt debut novel… It’s a slick first novel that beautifully captures a time that, in retrospect, seems tragically naïve.”
“[An] affecting, timely, and frequently hilarious debut novel.”
“Brilliant...The beauty of Kapitoil, Wayne’s debut novel, is that it tackles broad and serious themes with humor and an eye for detail. Karim’s carefully articulated voice is a thing of beauty....Teddy Wayne = a major literary talent.”
“The novel is wise and humble, funny and sweet, so incredibly touching.”
“A book ripe with beauty and potential....Karim Issar is a character readers will remember, and readers had better prepare themselves to remember the name of Teddy Wayne as well. It’s one they’ll be hearing again and again in the months following Kapitoil’s release.”
ISBN: 9780061873218