Perth

About the Book

Impresario Harry Perth comes up against the waning of his considerable creative powers. His doctor Kurt Norden and his beagle Claudia offer him unqualified loyalty and esteem, but his decline seems to overpower the affections of those who love him best. The Boston winter heightens the sense of unraveling until Perth comes across a progeny of sorts. An unexpected human element in the equation moves him partly toward redemption from a seeming infertility. With this change he may yet face down fresh reminders of artistic energies newly in free fall. Another character refracts the sunlight in the story's final episodes.

About the Author

Whitman has served in U.S. embassies in Denmark, Spain, South Africa, Haiti, and Cameroon. His books include a treatment of an African folk epic, a Madrid city guide, a handbook on stringed instruments, a Haiti chronicle, and most recently, Crank, a commentary on the Generation of 1968.