The Confessions of Max Tivoli

by Andrew Sean Greer

(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $23)

Opinions are mixed on Greer’s second novel, a love story set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. Max Tivoli, the narrator, ages normally on the inside and quite the opposite on the outside: He starts as a shriveled-up old man and ends up as a child. The white man’s mysticism braided into the slowly unfolding plot might madden some, but it also puts Greer – a very good storyteller, whose sentences almost stare you down, demanding to be recognized one by one – in the company of American authors like Darin Strauss (Chang and Eng) and Nicholas Christopher (Veronica). This is a good thing.

This article appears in July 16 • 2004.

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