Patrick deWitt

Ablutions

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From the author of Booker Prize finalist The Sisters Brothers: ';Viciously hilarious…deWitt's portrayal of the drinking life is staunchly unromantic.' TimeOut New York In a famous, but declining, Hollywood bar works a barman, morbidly amused by the decadence of his surroundings. He quietly observes as the patrons fall into their nightly oblivion, taking notes for his novel. In the hopes of uncovering their secrets and motives, he establishes tentative friendships with a cast of variously pathological regulars. But as his tenure at the bar continues, he begins to serve himself more often than his customers, and the time he spends outside the bar becomes more and more painful. He loses his wife, his way, himself. Trapped by habits and loneliness, the barman realizes he will not survive if he doesn't break free. And so he hatches a terrible, necessary plan of escape and redemption. ';Sharp and bitter and funny' (Los Angeles Times), Ablutions steps behind the bar and goes below rock bottom for a brilliant new twist on the classic tale of addiction and its consequences ';so punctuated with tiny, heartbreaking moments of graceit becomes impossible to put the book down' (Portland Mercury). ';Dark and provocative… ';Ablutions' has achieved something remarkable.' The New York Times Book Review ';Melancholic, sentimental, and very funny.' Harper's Bazaar (UK) ';As heartbreaking as it is hilarious… an utterly compelling novel.' The Believer
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175 printed pages
Publication year
2010
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Quotes

  • Nikolai C.has quoted5 years ago
    The strange thing is that from the time you began to steal, you have been drinking less. One reason for this is that you are fearful of being caught and wish to keep your head clear, but also there is something about knowing you are exacting revenge on those who have saddled you with this work life which has a calming effect on your entire attitude, and you are surprised to find that you are once again drinking not to black out your mind and feelings but for the old-time reasons of good-natured happiness and the desire to celebrate the rhythm of your own beating heart
  • Nikolai C.has quoted5 years ago
    Her head looks as though it has been taken off and put back on improperly—even without your money it is clear they have continued drinking in your absence
  • Nikolai C.has quoted5 years ago
    When he insists you see these movies you tell him you do not like the genre and he asks what other kinds there are and you say there are the slow ones and foreign ones and your personal favorites, the sad ones, and he blinks and says that there are two types of people: Those who want to cry, and those who are crying already and want to stop

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