But Jeff can't let go of the events of that traumatic day, and he begins to feel compelled to learn more about the man whose life he has saved, convinced that their destinies are now somehow entwined. At a homecoming party for Dennis and Laura's teenage son, the reappearance of an old family friend throws up secrets from the past and paves the way for fresh disaster. The central question being asked, it seems, is whether this was an act of fate, or if, indeed, Jeff was steering his own destiny, but the avenues the author goes down on his exploration of this old question were not particularly interesting to me.

people also keep going on about the "spectacular" and "unexpected" ending of this book meanwhile i kept waiting for Jeff to be like "i brought you into this world, i can take you out again" from the very first page. It is well-written, it's focused, and it comes in under 200 pages when many others would have had it well over 300 for no good reason.More chitchat follows, the two exchange a couple of faded college memories, and then, with obvious calculation, Cook launches into the story — a confession, really — that will dominate the remainder of the men’s time in airport limbo as well as this brisk novel’s 65 chapters, some covering no more than a page. Put together a list of other novels that explore art, identity, corruption, and the tangled webs we weave, and discuss how these selections connect to Mouth to Mouth. Francis is a complex character whose dubious morality is well drawn and Wilson’s depiction of the art world is biting, the market rather than the art taking centre stage. Ultimately, I think it’s an interesting and thought-provoking book, but it’s not the most amazing thing ever either. As Francis takes Jeff under his wing, readers will be kept in suspense until the final pages about whether Jeff will ultimately embrace or reject his role as Francis’ savior.

Mouth to Mouth tells the tale of an author whom awaiting his flight to Germany — amidst chasing a hole that he’d become somewhat of a Cult-status author, has a chance encounter with an old College acquaintance, whom winds up sharing a story of his life that throws the author and readers through a very eerily, strange yet poignant loop. I had to see how things played out for Jeff, with a constant sense of hesitancy about what was to come.The chapters are short and leave your wanting more — I read this story quickly, staying intrigued throughout.

Upon discovering that it was the renowned millionaire art-dealer Francis Arsenault, Jeff begins to visit his gallery, eventually applying there for a job. We checked into the lounge at a marble counter, where an officious young man took my pass and waved us in, letting us know that they would be announcing when it was time for us to head down to the gate.Ultimately, this is a story of sliding-door moments, a fate vs fickle-lottery of random events type battle that culminates in an ending well befitting it’s setup. I kept reading and reading to get to the promised twist that everyone has been raving about, but, honestly, the biggest surprise for me is that the ending surprised anyone. Well, Jeff is so successful that he has access to the first-class lounge and invites the narrator to wait out the flight with him in the luxury of first-class. How do the themes of these narratives—and the rest of the lead-up to Jeff’s saga, including the narrator’s memories and observations—echo throughout the novel?

Though the frame narrative can feel contrived, and Francis might not be as memorably monstrous as, say, Graham Greene’s Harry Lime, the extended scenes of self-fashioning and occluded vision make good use of Patricia Highsmith’s influence. A successful art dealer confesses the story of his meteoric rise in this “powerful, intoxicating, and shocking” ( The New York Times) novel that’s a “slow burn à la Patricia Highsmith” ( Oprah Daily). The interaction between the pair is really well handled, in fact the writing is first rate throughout. Cook, too, is aware that his story may be hard for his audience to believe, particularly because he admits to having never shared it with anyone before. It concerns Jeff Cook, a former classmate the man barely knew but who, he admits, “was one of those minor players from the past who claimed for himself an outsize role in my memories.I’m happy to say that this novel lived up to the its longlisting draw – it started off slow, but it slowly picked up momentum and suspense until I was shocked and pleased by the ending. I came across Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson in a publisher’s catalogue, and requested it for some unknown reason (likely, on a whim). Every Tuesday and Thursday, in Melnitz Hall, his myth disintegrated further, the slow grind of familiarity rendering him into just another undergrad, a fellow non-film major as clueless as I was about the movies we were discussing. Although Francis does not seem to recognize him as the man who saved his life, he nevertheless casts his legendary eye on Jeff and sees something worthy.