Synopsis
Written in precise, elegant prose, Garth Greenwell's Cleanness is an almost unbearably poignant book about a man whose life, like so many, has been transformed by the discovery and loss of love.
‘This is an exceptional work of fiction, which places Greenwell among the very best contemporary novelists’ – The i
Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, stirs with hope and impending upheaval. Soviet buildings crumble, unrelenting winds lash the city, political protesters flood the streets with song.
Amid this disquiet, a young American teacher prepares to leave the place he’s come to call home. In a reflective mood, heightened by his imminent departure, he grapples with the intimate encounters that have marked his years abroad, each revealing startling insights about what it means to seek connection: with those we love, with the places we inhabit and with ourselves.
Chosen as a book of the year in the New Yorker, Daily Telegraph, Observer, New York Times, BBC, TIME and Irish Times.
A New York Times Notable Book of 2020.
Longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize.
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Reviews
“Garth Greenwell is an intensely beautiful and gorgeous writer. Most American literature seems neutered by comparison”Sheila Heti, author of Motherhood
“Stunning, provocatively revelatory and atmospherically profound. Here is love and sex as art, as pulse, as truth”Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women
“An impressive book: moving, radical, both beautiful and violent, unexpected. Garth Greenwell is a major writer, and his writing provides us tools to affirm ourselves, to exist – to fight”Édouard Louis, author of The End of Eddy
“So rarely do words make comprehensible the inevitability and confusion of desire and determination as Garth Greenwell's writing does. Cleanness captures the indefinableness of pain and intimacy, love and alienation, vulnerability and sustainability”Yiyun Li, author of The Vagrants
