Flesh
A Novel (Booker Prize Winner)
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About Flesh
"Teenaged Istvâan lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. Shy and new in town, he is a stranger to the social rituals practiced by his classmates and soon becomes isolated, with his neighbor--a married woman close to his mother's age, whom he begrudgingly helps with errands--as his only companion. But as these periodical encounters shift into a clandestine relationship that Istvâan himself can barely understand, his life soon spirals out of control, ending in a violent accident thatleaves a man dead. What follows is a rocky trajectory that sees Istvâan emigrate from Hungary to London, where he moves from job to job before finding steady work as a driver for London's billionaire class. At each juncture, his life is affected by the goodwill or self-interest of strangers. Through it all, Istvâan is a calm, detached observer of his own life, and through his eyes we experience a tragic twist on an immigrant "success story," brightened by moments of sensitivity, softness, and Szalay's keen observation"--
Reader guide at a glance
Use these edition facts and spoiler-light notes to decide whether this book fits your mood, time, and preferred reading experience.
- Audience
- Adult/general
- Commitment
- Standalone or self-contained
- Estimated reading time
- 9.0 hours at about 40 pages per hour
- Length
- Standard-length read
- Best for
- Readers seeking reflective, literary fiction
Why readers are finding Flesh
Flesh by David Szalay, published in 2025, is a 368-page book for readers who prefer to browse by the experience of a story, not only by its sales category. Its strongest discovery signals include Reflective, Literary Fiction.
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- Print ISBN
- 978-1-982-12279-9
- Published
- 2025
- Pages
- 368
