The Manual of Detection

"This debut novel weaves the kind of mannered fantasy that might result if Wes Anderson were to adapt Kafka." --The New Yorker

Reminiscent of imaginative fiction from Jorge Luis Borges to Jasper Fforde yet dazzlingly original, The Manual of Detection marks the debut of a prodigious young talent.

Charles Unwin toils as a clerk at a huge, imperious detective agency located in an unnamed city always slick with rain. When Travis Sivart, the agency's most illustrious detective, is murdered, Unwin is suddenly promoted and must embark on an utterly bizarre quest for the missing investigator that leads him into the darkest corners of his soaking, somnolent city.

What ensues is a noir fantasy of exquisite craftsmanship, as taut as it is mind-blowing, that draws readers into a dream world that will change what they think about how they think.

Author: Jedediah Berry
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 01/26/2010
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.53lbs
Size: 8.42h x 5.40w x 0.61d
ISBN: 9780143116516

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 01/24/2010 pg. 20
Entertainment Weekly 06/29/2012 pg. 77

About the Author
Jedediah Berry was raised in the Hudson Valley region of New York State. His first novel, The Manual of Detection, won the Crawford Award and the Hammett Prize, and was adapted for broadcast by BBC Radio. His story in cards, "The Family Arcana," was published as a poker deck by Ninepin Press, and was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award. His short fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best New American Voices and Best American Fantasy. Together with his partner, writer Emily Houk, he runs Ninepin Press, an independent publisher of fiction, poetry, and games. He lives in Western Massachusetts.