The Optimists - by Andrew Miller (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Clem Glass was a successful photojournalist, firm in the belief that photographs could capture truth and beauty. Until he went to Africa and witnessed the aftermath of a genocidal massacre.
Clem returns to London with his faith in human nature shattered and his life derailed. Nothing-work, love, sex-can rouse his interest and no other outlook can restore his faith. The one person Clem is able to connect with is his sister, who has made her own sudden retreat from reality into the shadows of mental illness, and he finds some peace nursing her back to health in rural Somerset. Then news arrives that offers him the chance to confront the source of his nightmares.

In The Optimists, Miller explores the perilously thin line between self-delusion and optimism.

From the Back Cover

"Subtle, beautifully written . . . Miller's prose brings grace and lucidity to what is dark and baffling in Clem's predicament, the predicament of a caring man in an uncaring universe."--The Boston Globe

Clem is a successful photojournalist, firm in the belief that photographs could capture truth and beauty. Until he goes to Africa and witnesses the aftermath of a genocidal massacre. He returns to London with his faith in human nature shattered and his life derailed. Nothing--work, love, sex--can rouse his interest and no other outlook can restore his faith. The one person Clem is able to connect with is his sister, who has made her own sudden retreat from reality into the shadows of mental illness, and he finds some peace nursing her back to health in rural Somerset. Then news arrives that offers him the chance to confront the source of his nightmares.
This is a masterfully rendered novel that explores the perilously thin line between self-delusion and optimism.
Andrew Miller's first novel, Ingenious Pain, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the International IMPAC Award. He was short-listed for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Award for his novel Oxygen. He lives in Brighton, England.
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Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR OXYGEN

"A writer of verve and talent . . . [Miller's] prose is fluent, lucid and radiant."-THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"Curious, compelling, and disturbing . . .The reader is aware of being in the presence of a luminous intelligence, allied to literary skill of rare excellence."-THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD