Foreclosure Gothic - by Harris Lahti (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Lyrical and eerie . . . the prose is subtly alluring, such as the author's description of nature as 'a witch's brew of mistrust.' This sly and creepy drama is worth a look."--Publishers Weekly

A multigenerational and deeply autobiographical gothic tale of Hollywood dreams and upstate New York reality.

Foreclosure Gothic reimagines the American Gothic against the backdrop of today's Hudson Valley. The story tells of ex-Hollywood actor Vic Greener as he falls in love with the elusive Heather Roswell and the couple, following in the footsteps of Vic's father, resolves to make a life restoring one foreclosed home after another. Then comes the uncanny, destabilizing arrival of new tenants in their duplex, and the Greener's shocking discovery upon their departure.

With evocative and unsettling black and white photos throughout, this debut novel is at once a skewed portrait of three generations of Greener men, an intimate look at both childhood and parenthood and an examination of the friction between chasing one's dream and working to make money.

Review Quotes

"Lyrical and eerie . . . the prose is subtly alluring, such as the author's description of nature as 'a witch's brew of mistrust.' This sly and creepy drama is worth a look."
--Publishers Weekly

"Harris Lahti's writing is a delight, and a thrill. Here's a young writer who gets it, sharp-witted, smart, a writer with great style and skill. His bleakly comic novel is very real. His anti-hero Vic is contemporary, at first a young man cool and fraught, an actor in the world and in fact on TV. An ambitious man struggling to take care of his wife and son through the years, but like young men today, vexed and astounded by the daily vicissitudes he faces. The world is absurd, he knows it, he lives it. This is one of the best younger writers I see coming, and expect a great literary future for Harris Lahti."
--Lynne Tillman, author of Mothercare

"Suspenseful and visionary, hypnotic and absurd, Foreclosure Gothic is a startling novel about the darkness of the American dream. Like Joy Williams and Fleur Jaeggy, Harris Lahti is an extraordinary prose stylist carefully attuned to violence and beauty in this major debut."
--Patrick Cottrell, author of Sorry to Disrupt the Peace

"Foreclosure Gothic makes me excited about the future of literary fiction. It is rare for a debut to be simultaneously formally innovative and so classically minded. Lahti writes like de Kooning paints. This is a real, proper novel. I consider Harris Lahti to be the competition."
--Gabriel Smith, author of Brat

"This complex and daring work embodies a country constantly reimagining itself. By turns lyrical, curiously suspenseful, and fresh, this novel is one I will return to time and again for its beautiful prose."
--Zain Khalid, author of Brother Alive

"In Foreclosure Gothic the sickening, thrilling glint of desperation runs across the dark landscape of Americana, through highways and bad jobs and crumbling homes. Harris Lahti's vision is one of grim humor and gristly poetry, but it always leaves room for the wonderful terror of promise held in chance encounters. A remarkable debut."
--Tracy O'Neill, author of Women of Interest

"Harris Lahti is one of the most exciting stylists working today. File his work next to Amy Hempel, Raymond Carver, Barry Hannah."
--Bud Smith, author of Teenager

"If you enjoy slow-burn horror with philosophical undercurrents and a touch of the surreal, Foreclosure Gothic is definitely worth the read . . . The atmospheric storytelling in Foreclosure Gothic is outstanding. Lahti paints vivid scenes of decaying houses and empty landscapes in a way that mirrors the emotional decay of the characters. The writing feels hypnotic and poetic." --Sara Gresham

About the Author

Harris Lahti's short stories have appeared in BOMB, New York Tyrant, Ninth Letter, Southwest Review, Forever Magazine, and elsewhere. He co-founded the new press, Cash 4 Gold Books, and edits fiction for FENCE. For a living, he paints and renovates houses in New York's Hudson Valley. Read more: harrislahti.com.