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#FridayReads The Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing


The Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing by Nicholas Rombes

Yes, we know it's actually Thursday and the title says #FridayReads, but now's the perfect time to dig in to Nicholas Rombes' chilling debut novel, The Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing. Published in late-2014, the novel was one of Flavorwire, Entropy, and Book Riot's best of the year, earning its author comparisons to Borges, Lynch, and Bolaño.

At Vice, Blake Butler called it "addictive reading," while 3:AM Magazine said "Kafka directed by David Lynch doesn’t even come close. It is the most hauntingly original book I’ve read in a very long time. Nicholas Rombes' The Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing is a strong contender for novel of the year."

In the mid-'90s a rare-film librarian at a state university in Pennsylvania mysteriously burned his entire stockpile of film canisters and disappeared. Roberto Acestes Laing was highly regarded by acclaimed directors around the globe for his keen eye, appreciation for eccentricity, and creativity in interpretation.

Unsure at first whether Laing is a pseudonym or some sort of Hollywood boogeyman, a journalist manages to track the forgotten man down to a motel on the fringe of the Wisconsin wilds. Laing agrees to speak with the journalist, but only through the lens of the cinema. What ensues is an atmospheric, cryptic extrapolation of movies and how they intertwine with life, and the forgotten films that curse the lost librarian still.

Posted by Eliza Wood on 24 December, 2015 Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing, FridayReads, Nicholas Rombes | 0 comments
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