Wittgenstein's Mistress

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 04 May 2023
Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press

Wittgenstein's Mistress is a novel that stands apart from anything previously written by David Markson or any other author. It revolves around a woman who firmly believes, and remarkably manages to convince the reader of the same, that she is the sole remaining person on Earth. While it's possible that she may be delusional, there's something captivating about her character, as well as her witty and seductive narrative voice, that draws us in irresistibly. We follow her on a mesmerizing journey as she unloads the intellectual baggage of a lifetime in a series of irreverent meditations on a wide range of topics, including Brahms, sex, Heidegger, and Helen of Troy. As she reflects on the troubled aspects of her past that have led her to her current state, which serves as a metaphor for ultimate loneliness, her drama also evolves into one of the few genuinely original works of fiction of our time.

Upon the book's publication, the Washington Times expressed its admiration, stating, "The novel I liked best this year...one dizzying, delightful, funny passage after another. Wittgenstein's Mistress provides compelling evidence that the experimental novel can yield high-quality, pure works of imagination."

Weight: 412g
Dimension: 139 x 217 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781628973914