The King Is Dead

Returning a hero from the battlefields of World War II, Walter Selby settles into a charmed domestic life in Memphis. But in a few brief moments, Walter sees his life and his world fracture and split apart, driving him to commit a terrible crime. Many years later, Frank Cartwright ponders his next move. His film career has left him wealthy but incomplete. When a director approaches him with a script that has a riddle for a plot Frank is intrigued by its resonance. In his search for an answer to the riddle, Frank embarks on a journey that will lead him into a past he doesn't remember. Jim Lewis, acclaimed author ofWhy the Tree Loves the Ax, returns with a novel stunning in its originality and scope. And as he tells the stories of two men and the conflicts that shape them, he delivers a powerful portrait of America and the treacherous currents that run through it.

Jim Lewis was raised in New York and London. He has taught philosophy and literature at Columbia University, and has written about both politics and the arts for many magazines, journals, and museum catalogs. He has published two previous novels, <b>Sister</b> and <b>Why the Tree Loves the Ax</b><i>;</i> collaborated on the story treatment for the film <i>Kids;</i> and written a screenplay, based on a short story of his own, for Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios. He lives in Austin, Texas.<br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>