Trenton Makes

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE, 2018 __________________________________________ 'A novel of bewitching ingenuity'New York Times 'Electrifying' Lit Hub __________________________________________ Abe Kunstler wants his share of the American Dream, which for him is a factory job, a wife and a family. Getting these things will be harder for Abe than it is for other people, however, because his life is a lie - an invention forged in the heat of a terrible crime. Haunted by his past, terrified of exposure, and searching obsessively for redemption, Abe moves from one ruthless act to the next, tricking an alcoholic young taxi-dancer into becoming first his wife, then the mother of a child she believes is his. When the life they have built is threatened, he becomes desperate, until even Abe himself isn't sure how far he'll go to keep his secret...

TADZIO KOELB is a graduate of the prestigious writing program at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. He has translated André Gide's work, and is an active reviewer and essayist for a variety of publications that include The New York Times and The Times Literary Supplement. He teaches writing at Rutgers University and lives in Brooklyn, New York.