Tremor

Reviews

“In . . . Tremor, all of Teju Cole’s capacities are present. . . . The reader [is] first seduced by Cole’s mastery of anecdote before being immersed in rich, sometimes discomfiting ideas.”—The New York Times
 
“Cole exposes the stain of history and the constant presence of racism, fear and violence in Tunde’s daily life, raising questions about the role these things play in our art and, more specifically, in the novel. Tremor is a commentary on—or perhaps an answer to—the criticism that autofiction often focuses on upper-class white people.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“Poignant and playfully polyphonic.”—Financial Times

“This extraordinary, ambitious novel . . . breaks new ground.”—The Times
 
“[Tremor] is a high-wire act, beating its own, defiant path through the weightless air.”—The Nation
 
“Exaggerated rumors about the death of the novel have been spreading for at least a century, but I’m not concerned about its imminent demise. . . . Anyone who doubts how effectively this elderly literary genre might survive and evolve to reflect an impossibly complicated world would do well to read Teju Cole’s involute new book, Tremor. . . . Cole continues to demonstrate just how elastic a novel can be and how trenchant he is. . . . Tenaciously alive.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“An intimate novel about destabilization and catastrophe, Tremor roves freely across time, form, geography. Supple and sinuous, it is a dazzling performance from one of the most brilliant and singular minds at work today.”—Katie Kitamura, author of Intimacies

“Teju Cole’s writing always amazes me—its beauty, intimacy, complexity, and clarity. Tremor is a quietly dazzling book. With vitality and poise, it offers a new view of what is concealed in the narration of histories, the composition of a photograph, the fragrance in a bar of soap, the existential fury of a vendor selling trinkets to tourists.”—Deborah Levy, author of The Cost of Living

“A masterful novel by one of America’s finest writers . . . Cole is not just offering us a novel about art, migration, or marginalisation, rather a new politics of seeing, reading and thinking.”—The Daily Telegraph

“A provocative and profound meditation on art and life in a world of terror.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Dazzling . . . a thrilling and important work.”—BookPage (starred review)

“[Cole’s] remarkable and experimental latest . . . begins like autofiction [before taking] a thrilling point-of-view swerve. . . . It’s a splendid feast for the senses.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Lyrical and beautiful.”—Booklist Expand reviews