The Other Side of the World

"[Neugeboren] might not be as famous as some of his compeers, like Philip Roth or John Updike, but it's becoming increasingly harder to argue that he's any less talented."--Michael Schaub, "Kirkus Reviews"

Charlie is a journeyman whose friend Nick convinces him to move to Singapore, where he falls in love with the vibrant and endangered world of nearby Borneo. One night, during a fight at a cocktail party in Singapore, Nick dies mysteriously, prompting Charlie to return to New England where he discovers that a former student has moved in with his father, Max, a former professor and source of unlimited sage expressions. Seana is a wildly successful and provocative writer who is equally wild and provocative in life. Together, she and Charlie set out on a road trip of resolution where "weird things happen if you make room for them."

From the lush forests of Borneo to coastal Maine, "The Other Side of the World" is a grand, episodic novel and another virtuosic performance by one of America's most revered living writers.

Jay Neugeboren is the author, most recently, of the novel "1940," and collection "You Are My Heart and Other Stories." His previous novels have received the American Jewish Committee Award and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award. His stories and essays have appeared in "The Atlantic," "Tikkun," "GQ," "Newsweek," "The New York Times," and "The New York Review of Books." He was the writer-in-residence for many years at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and currently lives in New York City.