About face: a novel

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Author:
Giraldi, William
Language:
English
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Cary Regional - Adult Fiction has 2
GIRALDI
East Regional - Adult Fiction
GIRALDI
Eva H. Perry Regional - Adult Fiction
GIRALDI

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ISBN:
9781324091356

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Grouped Work IDb85d1e02-f91e-811b-4a5d-421bce86e32d
Grouping Titleabout face
Grouping Authorwilliam giraldi
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2025-06-15 05:12:28AM
Last Indexed2025-08-03 05:17:43AM

Solr Fields

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author
Giraldi, William
author_display
Giraldi, William
available_at_catalog
Cary Regional
East Regional
Eva H. Perry Regional
Fuquay-Varina Community
Holly Springs Community
Leesville Community
Middle Creek Community
Northeast Regional
Oberlin Regional
Richard B. Harrison Community
Southeast Regional
Wake Forest Community
Wendell Community
collection_catalog
Adult Fiction
detailed_location_catalog
Cary Regional - Adult Fiction
East Regional - Adult Fiction
Eva H. Perry Regional - Adult Fiction
Fuquay-Varina Community - Adult Fiction
Holly Springs Community - Adult Fiction
Leesville Community - Adult Fiction
Middlecreek Community - Adult Fiction
Northeast Regional - Adult Fiction
Oberlin Regional - Adult Fiction
Richard B Harrison - Adult Fiction
Southeast Regional - Adult Fiction
Wake Forest Community - Adult Fiction
Wendell Community - Adult Fiction
display_description
"A tragicomic novel of a fame-obsessed American society yet again on the brink. Evoking such classics as Elmer Gantry and The Day of the Locust, William Giraldi's About Face boldly transfers the perennial literary themes of celebrity, ambition, and obsession to twenty-first-century Boston. There we meet Val Face, a charismatic self-help guru who captivates multitudes with his uncanny ability to heal adherents using only the power of his words, the mysterious touch of his hands, and the transcendent beauty of his face. Assigned to write a profile of Val Face during his much-hyped New England tour, thirty-year-old impoverished journalist Seger Jovi pens a brutal hatchet job. But Seger, at once curious and incredulous, is soon sucked into the mystic's vortex of fame, becoming a devotee himself as he contends with the machinations and absurdities of Face's many protectors, from beefcake bodyguards to helicoptering handlers to Face's unwavering spouse, Nimble. At first unwilling to sacrifice his principles to fulfill his own ambition and rise from privation, then touched by Face's unexpected humanity, Seger oscillates between acting as Face's cynical foil and becoming his unlikely ally. Just as the exalted guru appears to be reaching the apex of his powers, danger threatens from the periphery in the form of an obsessive stalker who wants Face dead. To curb this stalker before he can do harm, Face's security team enlists the aid of Jackie Jaworski, an ex-Marine and resourceful Boston detective who moonlights as a novelist of thrillers. And so About Face, building to a denouement that will astonish readers, takes us into the convergence of violence and fame that has come to define so much of American popular culture over the last half-century. With its indelible array of characters, hypnotic pacing, and shocking conclusion-and "a mesmerizing prose style that is downright pyrotechnic in its brilliance" (Andre Dubus III)-About Face is a novel in the grand tradition that dances along the tenuous line between the sacred and the profane"--
format_catalog
Book
format_category_catalog
Books
id
b85d1e02-f91e-811b-4a5d-421bce86e32d
isbn
9781324091356
last_indexed
2025-08-03T09:17:43.294Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Fiction
literary_form_full
Fiction
local_callnumber_catalog
GIRALDI
owning_library_catalog
Wake County Public Libraries
owning_location_catalog
Cary Regional
East Regional
Eva H. Perry Regional
Fuquay-Varina Community
Holly Springs Community
Leesville Community
Middle Creek Community
Northeast Regional
Oberlin Regional
Richard B. Harrison Community
Southeast Regional
Wake Forest Community
Wendell Community
primary_isbn
9781324091356
publishDate
2022
publisher
Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Fame -- Fiction
Journalists -- Fiction
Stalkers -- Fiction
Thrillers (Fiction)
title_display
About face : a novel
title_full
About face : a novel / William Giraldi
title_short
About face
title_sub
a novel
topic_facet
Fame
Journalists
Stalkers

Solr Details Tables

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ils:7661608123185East Regional - Adult FictionGIRALDI1falsefalseOn ShelfERL
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record_details

Bib IdFormatFormat CategoryEditionLanguagePublisherPublication DatePhysical DescriptionAbridged
ils:766160BookBooksFirst EditionEnglishLiveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company[2022]373 pages ; 22 cm

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