The Nix: A novel

Winner of the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction A New York Times 2016 Notable Book Entertainment Weekly's #1 Book of the Year A Washington Post 2016 Notable Book A Slate Top Ten Book NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The Nix is a mother-son psychodrama with ghosts and politics, but its also a tragicomedy about anger and sanctimony in America. . . . Nathan Hill is a maestro. John Irving From the suburban Midwest to New York City to the 1968 riots that rocked Chicago and beyond, The Nix exploreswith sharp humor and a fierce tendernessthe resilience of love and home, even in times of radical change. Its 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Andersoncollege professor, stalled writerhas a Nix of his own: his mother, Faye. He hasnt seen her in decades, not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now shes re-appeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news, beguiles the internet, and inflames a politically divided country. The media paints Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high-school sweetheart. Which version of his mother is true? Two facts are certain: shes facing some serious charges, and she needs Samuels help. To save her, Samuel will have to embark on his own journey, uncovering long-buried secrets about the woman he thought he knew, secrets that stretch across generations and have their origin all the way back in Norway, home of the mysterious Nix. As he does so, Samuel will confront not only Fayes losses but also his own lost love, and will relearn everything he thought he knew about his mother, and himself.