Firmin

In the basement of a Boston bookstore, Firmin is born in a shredded copyFinnegans Wake,nurtured on a diet of Zane Grey,Lady Chatterley's Lover,andJane Eyre(which tastes a lot like lettuce). While his twelve siblings gnaw these books obliviously, for Firmin the words, thoughts, deeds, and hopesall the literature he consumessoon consume him. Emboldened by reading, intoxicated by curiosity, foraging for food, Firmin ventures out of his bookstore sanctuary, carrying with him all the yearnings and failings of humanity itself. It's a lot to ask of a ratespecially when his home is on the verge of annihilation. A novel that is by turns hilarious, tragic, and hopeful,Firminis a masterpiece of literary imagination. For here, a tender soul, a vagabond and philosopher, struggles with mortality and meaningin a tale for anyone who has ever feasted on a book...and then had to turn the final page.

Sam Savage is a native of South Carolina now living in Madison, Wisconsin. He received his bachelor and doctoral degree from Yale University where he taught briefly, and has also worked as a bicycle mechanic, carpenter, commercial fisherman, and letterpress printer. This is his first novel.