The Chalk Artist: A Novel

The Chalk Artist: A Novel

A tender affair and the redemptive power of art are at the core of this compelling novel from National Book Award finalist Allegra Goodman, â€œa romantic realist who dazzles with wit [and] compassionâ€ (The Wall Street Journal).

Collin James is young, creative, and unhappy. A college dropout, he waits tables and spends his free time beautifying the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his medium of choice: chalk. Collinâ€™s art captivates passersby with its vibrant colors and intricate linesâ€”until the moment he wipes it all away. Nothing in Collinâ€™s life is meant to last. Then he meets Nina. . . .

The daughter of a tech mogul who is revolutionizing virtual reality, Nina Lazare is trying to give back as a high school teacherâ€”but her students wonâ€™t listen to her. When Collin enters her world, he inspires her to think bigger. Nina wants to return the favorâ€”even if it means losing him.

Against this poignant backdrop, Allegra Goodman paints a tableau of students, neighbors, and colleagues: Diana, a teenage girl trying to make herself invisible; her twin brother, Aidan, whoâ€™s addicted to the games produced by Ninaâ€™s father; and Daphne, a viral-marketing trickster who unites them all, for better or worse.

Wise, warm, and enchanting, The Chalk Artist is both a finely rendered portrait of modern love and a celebration of all the realms we inhabit: real and imagined, visual and virtual, seemingly independent yet hopelessly tangled.

Praise for The Chalk Artist

â€œThe virtual world Goodman conjures is as feverishly vivid as it is mysterious and alluring. Not since I pushed my way through C. S. Lewisâ€™s fusty mothballed wardrobe and stepped out into the frozen, pine-scented forests of Narnia can I remember being so effectively transported into a viscerally, sometimes terrifyingly plausible alternate universe. . . . This is a novel full of wit and spark. . . . Irresistible and arresting.â€â€”The New York Times Book Review

â€œEnjoyably sharp dialogue and convincing portraits of multiple mindsets and terrains . . . One canâ€™t help but marvel at how Goodman has captured the atmosphere of this virtual fantasy land so effectively in words.â€â€”NPR

â€œMesmerizing depictions of virtual-reality landscapes of â€˜Neverwhenâ€™ and â€˜Underworldâ€™ make the gamesâ€™ dangerous power over one of Ninaâ€™s students very real.â€â€”People

â€œGoodmanâ€™s latest combines fantastical flourishes (an imagined video game called â€˜Underworldâ€™) and realistic Cambridge details . . . in a narrative about art and ambition.â€â€”The Boston Globe

â€œAllegra Goodman creates suspense where you might least expect to find it.â€â€”The Atlantic
Country USA
Brand The Dial Press
Manufacturer The Dial Press
Binding Hardcover
Color Black
ReleaseDate 2017-06-13
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781400069873

Country	USA
Brand	The Dial Press
Manufacturer	The Dial Press
Binding	Hardcover
Color	Black
ReleaseDate	2017-06-13
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781400069873

The Chalk Artist: A Novel

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