Talk: A Novel in Dialogue

Corey Mesler’s novel is set completely in dialogue. And to steal the thunder from one of its blurbs, you’re going to be surprised at “just how sexy a novel made out of dialogue can be.” (Frederick Barthelme) You’re also going to be surprised at how mesmerizing such a novel can be as you fill in descriptive detail even as you read/hear the central character Jim, hip and bright owner of a metropolitan bookstore, quipping with his customers, philosophizing with his wife and artist friend, instructing and learning from his children—and heating afternoon stew pots of audacious linguistic sexiness with his erstwhile, almost lover. In the end, all the talk amounts to much more than talk: it builds meaning. Aristotle may have defined us as “political,” “featherless,” and “bi-pedal”; Mesler defines us as TALK.