Stephen Florida

Stephen Florida has a propulsive energy from the first lines. Stephen is alone, an orphan, and he narrates his story to himself, drilling on the mat and in his head?wrestle, win, win love, win against enemies real and imagined. Win. His voice drive the novel forward even as he unravels. This novel is a classic big book?obsession, alienation, love, clear stakes?and Stephen is a vulnerable, troubled, unreliable narrator. He's funny, dangerous, and fully realized, and this is literary fiction that audiences can sink their teeth into, while still very much classic CHP?off-kilter, dark, and daring. We're pulling out all the stops for this one. When we found it in the queue, three of us read it within three days and we immediately made an offer. It's that good, and we're that confident that Gabe has written a winner that we can sell. And his perch at PW should make it easy to get it into the right hands?the manuscript came in with a blurb from Hanya Yangihara. There hasn't been a great wrestling novel, and this could be the one. Its setting in collegiate athletics brings The Art of Fielding to mind, but the intensity is more Foxcatcher.