{"product_id":"9781440571800","title":"The Last Time I Died","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Joe Nelms\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“One of the most compelling novels in recent memory” (\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e) by a bright light in irreverent and compelling fiction: Joe Nelms, author of \u003ci\u003eFormerly Fingerman\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChristian Franco is embracing the despair of divorce, doing nothing to slow the implosion of his career, friendships, and relationships. He camps out at bars to pick fights, finding that getting his ass kicked allows him his only meditative moments, something he explores with sardonic zeal.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eNine years of his childhood are entirely repressed, a consequence of his father killing his mother when Christian was eight. But as Christian is beaten to death in a bar brawl, his life flashes before his eyes and a long repressed memory resurfaces: the stoop of his childhood home, his father in the back of a cop car, and his mother being wheeled away on a gurney. Christian is resuscitated and comes alive with driving purpose. He must know more.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWhat follows is Christian's increasingly desperate attempts to kill himself, be revived, and slowly piece together snapshots from his childhood to understand this rediscovered self-knowledge and find how it can help him rebuild his life and marriage. Alternating between calculated suicide attempts and heartbreaking memories of a happier time, Christian revels in the underbelly of New York City in a spectacular downward spiral.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eNelms captures Christian's spectacular implosion in punchy, quotable prose, covering a Gotham from glossy Midtown offices to seedy Bronx dog fights. \u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died \u003c\/i\u003ehas the murky, teasing reality of \u003ci\u003eFight Club \u003c\/i\u003eand the gleeful violence of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Psycho\u003c\/i\u003e, but is entirely fresh, in a voice all its own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\"Christian Franco, the creative and charismatic protagonist of Nelms's debut novel, is like an indefatigable class clown, darkly funny and constantly stirring the pot...a relatable modern man and Nelms' crackling prose moves like lightning.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Christian's rage-fueled quest to know the truth of his childhood comes in strobe-light snapshot chapters, flashes of manic action much like Chuck Palahniuk's transgressional narratives.\"\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e falls in that same category Important Movies fall into, where you call it a film and it's deep and powerful and gut wrenching... You should read it, like you should read Eli Weisel's \u003ci\u003eNight\u003c\/i\u003e or Solomon Northup's \u003ci\u003eTwelve Years a Slave\u003c\/i\u003e, like you should watch \u003ci\u003eSchindler's List\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHotel Rwanda\u003c\/i\u003e.\" \u003cbr\u003e\"Occasionally a book comes along that is so fresh and so different it just stands out. \u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e is one of those books.\" \u003cbr\u003e\"You won't be able to put this book down until you know what happens.\" \u003cbr\u003e\"Funny, disturbing, and full of sharp elbows, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e is ultimately a story of redemption, and Nelms delivers a powerful, punishing, and, amazingly enough, hopeful novel.\" \u003cbr\u003e\"Joe Nelms's masterful debut is a heat-seeking missile headed straight for your gut, and, be warned, it does not miss its mark.\" \u003cbr\u003e\"Smartly written and suspenseful as hell, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e is a brilliant novel.\" \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\"From page one, this novel thrusts you into the fraught mind of a man whose life was ruined before it even began, a nobody trapped inside his own lethal obsessions, and the effect is so gripping, so tragic and chilling, that you wouldn't escape even if you could. With stark searing prose and keen insights, Joe Nelms will make you feel what it's like to dive headfirst into disintegration just to discover who you truly are and finally get some peace. The story will tattoo itself to your psyche. You'll be glad and grateful.\" \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e is a maelstrom of brilliant prose--dark, delectable, devastating, and utterly, utterly compelling. If this is Joe Nelms' debut, watch out, world. Chuck Palahniuk fans will love this book.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"One of the most compelling first novels in recent memory.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781440571800\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Gallery Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40591721988302,"sku":"9781440571800","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_6a6aea37-308a-4fa8-bd62-d8b8bcc82a54.jpg?v=1637756555","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781440571800","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}