The Genius of the Sea Hardback - 2003

Heralded by "The New York Times Book Review" as having a "genius for the unexpected," and as a writer of "sharply intelligent prose," Naeem Murr arrived on the literary scene with his critically acclaimed first novel, "The Boy." Murr lives up to this praise with his brilliant and original new work.

Daniel Mulvaugh is haunted by his failures. He has tried not to think about the death of his closest friend, for which he feels responsible, or the reasons for his mother's lifelong secrecy. He's estranged from his wife and true love, and his ability to connect to his life has begun to elude him. At this impasse, he can no longer find distraction in his pub-happy friends, or fulfillment in dealing with the squalid troubles of his social welfare clients.

When fate beckons Daniel in the form of Amos Radcliff, a bizarre ex-merchant marine living in Daniel's childhood apartment, he finds comfort in surrendering to this man's stories about his experiences on the high seas. But Amos isn't all he seems, and Daniel soon realizes that the key to his own past resides somewhere in these increasingly intimate and disturbing tales.

Between Amos and Daniel, the story moves back and forth: from the working-class pubs of London to the shantytowns of Bangkok, from a sanatorium for the mentally ill to a South American merchant ship crewed by misanthropic sailors, from this world into a deeper and more mysterious one of primal loss, love, and betrayal.

"The Genius of the Sea" takes both Daniel and the readeron a journey into a contemporary heart of darkness -- and light. Naeem Murr has crafted a richly compelling waking dream of a book.