The Fabrications

Fiction. WHEN BLOCH, a popular London novelist, starts writing a fictionalized story featuring his unremarkable friend Oscar, the invented details from the story start to come true. Gradually, Oscar embarks on a surreal odyssey into fame, while Bloch descends into the dark places of his soul. Oscar falls in love with Najette, a bewitching painter, but their relationship hangs in the balance as his myth balloons out of all proportion. At the centre of the hype and spin stands the demon-like publicist Ryan Rees, whose power enables him to manufacture the truth, and the story builds to an unforgettable, startling climax...



In this rich, inventive and very funny novel Magarian mercilessly eviscerates the worlds of art, PR, and media...his literary ambition is clear from the first sentence of THE FABRICATIONS...and the core theme is fiction itself...the book beautifully distills the dangers of too willing a participation in illusion.--The Times Literary Supplement



A sparkling, darkly humorous novel.... A resplendent tale.--Kirkus Reviews



THE FABRICATIONS is big, bold...entertaining, Faustian...it captures the absurdity of contemporary life and culture.--The New Statesman



Mind-bending...a profound engagement with words and ideas.--Jamie Mackay, Review 31



THE FABRICATIONS is a brilliant achievement... The novel aims high, unblushingly seeking out the company of the modern European masters.--Jonathan Coe



Again and again, Mr. Magarian finds the exact right detail to render his scenes incredibly lifelike.--Seattle Book Review



Smart, witty, and honest, THE FABRICATIONS is a book that will leave you thinking about it for a long time after you have put it down.--San Francisco Book Review



THE FABRICATIONS clearly reveals author Baret Magarian as a novelist with a genuine flair for originality and engaging his reader's rapt attention from first page to last.--Midwest Review



A tour de force... It's a wondrous novel both cleverly satirical...and philosophically profound, a rare accomplishment.--Lee Foust, The Florence News



As well as funny and stinging lampoons of corporate ad-speak and the aesthetics of the publicity stunt, Magarian makes intermittent postmodern flourishes with The Fabrications by visually aping the format and presentation of newspapers, press releases, and webpages.--Ruiari Connelly, Necessary Fiction



The novel's conceptual untidiness is finally one of the features that makes it both appealing and memorable.--Daniel Green, Full Stop