The Silverberg Business: a novel

(Paperback)

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Description

Cover art by Jon Langford of The Mekons

An eldritch Western noir

Author has 2 books out in 2021 building up to this novel in 2022

Reviews

"Steeped in the early history of Texass statehood and laced with eerie portents of supernatural horror. . . . Wexler keeps his twisty plot refreshingly unpredictable and endows his characterseven the non-talking skullheadswith vividly realized personalities that enliven his surreal, atmospheric tale. This weird western packs a wallop." Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A weird but oddly convincing creature feature."Kirkus Reviews

Early reader reactions

"Certainly the strangest book I've ever read, and strangeness is a thing that I take to. The grotesque horrors, the impossibilities, the shifting scenes, Silverberg's skull, the skull-heads, the wooden house that turns into a mansion without the detective finding it particularly odd. It is in fact a book not like anything I've ever read."
John Crowley, author of Little, Big
A haunting novel that traverses an American West inhabited by nightmarish characters, human and otherwise, The Silverberg Business evokes the unease of classic weird fiction with a contemporary gloss: William Hope Hodgsons The Night Land by way of Jim Jarmusch and Cormac McCarthy. Unnerving and unforgettable. Elizabeth Hand, author of Hokuloa Road
"Robert Freeman Wexler never fails to knock me out, and The Silverberg Business hits like a hurricanetheres strangeness and beauty on every page. The novel is that rare thing, a weird western thats truly weird, set in a Texas thats simultaneously gritty, violent, and real, yet soaked in myth. Dont miss this. Daryl Gregory, author of Revelator

"This philosophical Jewish-Texan retro-neo-noirat once detective story, western, and ambling picaresqueis populated by a memorable cast of schemers, toughs, and oddballs, and rendered with a keen eye and ear for detail." J. Robert Lennon, author of Subdivision

Praise for Robert Wexlers books

"An unusual, haunting tale from a distinctive new voice." Lisa Tuttle, London Sunday Times

"This complex, enthralling novel is concerned with relations between art and commerce, and nature and commerce; the importance of the past; the everyday oppression of capitalism; and how art may shape history." Booklist (starred review)

"As buoyant and airy as a center-ring trapeze act." Publisher's Weekly

"Quietly stunning." Asimov's

"Wexler demonstrates a wonderful touch with his writing: to render Lewis's lengthy inner journey through this dream-state without losing a sense of living, vital immediacy is an extraordinary accomplishment."New York Review of Science Fiction

"A fascinating, deeply bizarre adventure."Faren Miller, Locus

Author Bio

Robert Freeman Wexlers books include the novels The Painting and the City and Circus of the Grand Design and a collection, Undiscovered Territories. His stories have appeared in Lady Churchills Rosebud Wristlet, Postscripts, The Third Alternative, Electric Velocipede, and Polyphony. He lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio with the writer Rebecca Kuder. His website and blog can be found here: robertfreemanwexler.com.