“We never really know why we act the way we act. »
This sentence taken from the mouth of the main character could serve alone as a subtitle to this intriguing novel which found itself, in 2022, among the favorite titles of Barack Obama – a great reader whose reputation has often served as a barometer to discover authors who were totally unknown to us.
Two men pass each other at JFK airport in New York; they attended the same university in California and had not seen each other since their twenties. One of them, the narrator, has become a writer; the other, Jeff Cook, made his fortune as an art dealer. An urge to talk drives him to tell his story, as their flight to Europe is delayed and they share drink after drink while they wait to board.
Twenty years ago, Jeff Cook saved a man from drowning. The event, which he never told anyone, marked a turning point in his life. What is this secret that he buried for two decades? And why does he insist on confiding it to his interlocutor? His story hooks from the first pages. And despite the rather slow pace it imposes on us, it remains interesting until the end, while giving us along the way a very interesting reflection on the art world, power relations and pretense. But if the novel is worth the detour, it is above all for the surprise effect of its completely stunning finale, which will leave more than one speechless.
Mouth to mouth
Gallimard
256 pages