{"product_id":"9781440571817","title":"The Last Time I Died","description":"\"One of the most compelling first novels in recent memory.\" --\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e (STARRED REVIEW)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e is a maelstrom of brilliant prose--dark, delectable, devastating, and utterly, utterly compelling. If this is Joe Nelms' debut, watch out, world. Chuck Palahniuk fans will love this book.\" ~\u003cb\u003eSara Gruen\u003c\/b\u003e, number one \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eWater for Elephants\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Christian Franco is embracing the despair of divorce, doing nothing to slow the implosion of his career, friendships, and relationships. He camps out at bars to pick fights, finding that getting his ass kicked allows him his only meditative moments, something he explores with sardonic zeal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nine years of his childhood are entirely repressed, a consequence of his father killing his mother when Christian was eight. But as Christian is beaten to death in a bar brawl, his life flashes before his eyes and a long repressed memory resurfaces: the stoop of his childhood home, his father in the back of a cop car, and his mother being wheeled away on a gurney. Christian is resuscitated and comes alive with driving purpose. He must know more.\u003cbr\u003e What follows is Christian's increasingly desperate attempts to kill himself, be revived, and slowly piece together snapshots from his childhood to understand this rediscovered self-knowledge and find how it can help him rebuild his life and marriage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Alternating between calculated suicide attempts and heartbreaking memories of a happier time, Christian revels in the underbelly of New York City in a spectacular downward spiral.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nelms captures Christian's spectacular implosion in punchy, quotable prose, covering a Gotham from glossy Midtown offices to seedy Bronx dog fights. \u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e has the murky, teasing reality of \u003ci\u003eFight Club\u003c\/i\u003e and the gleeful violence of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Psycho\u003c\/i\u003e, but is entirely fresh, in a voice all its own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Praise for \u003ci\u003eLast Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Funny, disturbing, and full of sharp elbows, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e is ultimately a story of redemption, and Nelms delivers a powerful, punishing, and, amazingly enough, hopeful novel.\" --Garth Stein, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Art Of Racing In The Rain\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Joe Nelms's masterful debut is a heat-seeking missile headed straight for your gut, and, be warned, it does not miss its mark.\" --Robert Goolrick, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eA Reliable Wife\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHeading Out To Wonderful\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Smartly written and suspenseful as hell, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Time I Died\u003c\/i\u003e is a brilliant novel.\" --Richard Christy of The Howard Stern Show\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"From page one, this novel thrusts you into the fraught mind of a man whose life was ruined before it even began, a nobody trapped inside his own lethal obsessions, and the effect is so gripping, so tragic and chilling, that you wouldn't escape even if you could. With stark searing prose and keen insights, Joe Nelms will make you feel what it's like to dive headfirst into disintegration just to discover who you truly are and finally get some peace. The story will tattoo itself to your psyche. You'll be glad and grateful.\" --Jeff Backhaus, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Rental Sister\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Gallery Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47128135106800,"sku":"9781440571817","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781440571817_p0.jpg?v=1763797977","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781440571817","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}