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    Doppelganger

    Sam Riviere

    Formats & Editions

    Every bit as dazzling and unexpected as Dead Souls, Doppelganger is a Russian doll of a novel, where layers give way to more layers, a hall of mirrors with endless reflections leading to the heart of the mystery, or possibly nowhere - it is hard to tell.

    The story is set in a fictional English university town in the near future and follows the rise of a contagious 'twinning' trend among its students, which has unexpected outcomes on the artistic practices and individual subjectivities of those affected. The narrative sweep includes nefarious art collectors, AIs posing as poets, itinerant 'intimacy' professionals, and dramatises both the ambiguous allure of the collective and the dubious autonomy of the individual in market-led creative fields. We find ourselves in the absurdist literary tradition of Witold Gombrowicz, Antal Szerb, Roberto Bolano.

    As the proliferation of doubles increases, the patterns of duplication point to the presence of a mysterious 'third' - some suspect the phenomenon has a source beyond their everyday horizons . . .

    This is fiction at its cleverest, at its most challenging, and most self-reflective. It is also very funny. The reader embarks on a quest with uncertain outcome, and Sam Riviere keeps us on our toes throughout with his wit, his stylistic brilliance and his matchless mind.

    More books by Sam Riviere
    Dead Souls
    Sam Riviere
    Dead Souls

    Praise for Doppelganger

    • A brilliant and brilliantly entertaining novel - Guardian (on Dead Souls)

    • Whip-smart. Maddening. Weirdly hypnotic. I loved it - Telegraph (on Dead Souls)

    • Manic and thrillingly musical - New York Times (on Dead Souls)

    • A genuinely funny comic novel, and one of the most strikingly intelligent debuts I've read in a long time - Literary Review (on Dead Souls)

    Sam Riviere

    Sam Riviere

    Sam Riviere is the author of the poetry books 81 Austerities (2012), Kim Kardashian's Marriage (2015), After Fame (2020) and Conflicted Copy (2024) as well as numerous limited-edition titles. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2009, and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2012. Born in Norwich, he currently lives in London, where he runs the micropublisher If a Leaf Falls Press. His debut novel Dead Souls (2021) was published by W&N in the UK and Catapult in the US.

    Related books

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