Edwin Mullhouse

By Steven Millhauser,

Book cover of Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954 by Jeffrey Cartwright

Book description

A parody of a literary biography starring a 10-year-old novelist who is mysteriously dead at 11—from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Martin Dressler.

As a memorial, Edwin Mullhouse's best friend, Jeffrey Cartwright, decides that the life of this great American writer must be told. He follows Edwin's development from his…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Edwin Mullhouse as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This extraordinary novel purports to be a literary biography of a writer who died at age eleven, written by his best friend. The absurdity of the central conceit in no way lessens its impact as a meticulously crafted, gorgeously realized evocation of mid-century childhood in America.

Though I’m a generation younger, I was immediately transported back in time to re-visit the adventurous feeling of daring to travel outside one’s own neighborhood, the heartsore drama of a devastating first crush, and all the other minute particulars encountered in the serious business of growing up.

Funny, tragic, and sometimes just plain weird,…

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