Mouth to Mouth: ‘Gripping... Shades of Patricia Highsmith and Donna Tartt’ Vogue

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With a little bit of work he manages to find out the man's name and the fact that he survived the ordeal with only a few broken ribs. Not what was the point of the book, that was quite clear and as I mentioned it was effectively made. Kind of a joke on the concept of airport novels, given that it takes place entirely in an airport lounge, a tale told between friends who happen to run into each other while their flight to Germany is delayed by the Icelandic volcano. Reminiscent of a Paul Auster novel, with a trace of foreboding, the narrator recounts a story told to him by a college acquaintance in an airport.

Eventually Francis came around, but would only tell people he’d broken the ribs in a “squash accident”. Jeff tells the narrator the story of how he once saved a man from drowning and how he subsequently tried to find out about the man he had saved.

As the often unbelievable life story progresses Jeff appears to become more relaxed as though he is unburdening himself, while his ‘old friend’ becomes increasingly concerned as to how the story will end. It was never shortlisted, so I forgot about it again, but as I near the end of my calendar year I’m picking up books that I kept meaning to get to, and never did. I rose and made my way past a variety of travelers, from business types to trust fund hipsters, many of them speaking foreign languages.

Mouth To Mouth is good, it makes some interesting observations and it’s certainly worth reading, but I’m not sure it’s quite as brilliant or profound as it’s made out to be. The start point, and the key to all that follows, is his intervention one morning when spots a man in severe difficulty off Santa Monica beach. Split up into pairs and imagine you find yourself in Jeff and the narrator’s position: happening upon a person from your past.The whole way from gate to lounge elevator, as I followed him and the rhythmic ticktock of his bag’s wheels across the terminal’s tiles, he didn’t once look back to make sure I was following. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. And despite being 60 reviews behind and having nearly 30 library books checked out (we won’t even go there with the reader copies I request and fail to read in a timely manner) I totally took a looksee and immediately went and requested one of his suggestions. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed.

But later he gets obsessed with that man and has to know whether he rescued a good man or made the world a big disservice by letting a monster stay alive. Jeff had to know more about the man he saved and one day, finds himself visiting the man’s art gallery. Jeff is well established in the family when a crisis hits that will have devastating and far-reaching consequences.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Parts of it were interesting and hearing about how Jeff had saved the drowning man was quite an engaging bit of writing, but beyond that I got a little lost. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. The character of Francis emerges powerfully and he isn’t one that’s easy to like but we’ve only got Jeff’s word for that especially as you see it’s a sort of the King is dead, Long live the King kind of story. At least this is the story as he tells it, as he begins to first stalk the man, then takes a job working for him, finds out more about his business dealings and begins to question all he finds out.

I had already spent hours in the airport, my tickets having been purchased last minute and at the cheapest possible fare—a red-eye from LA, a layover at JFK, a flight to Frankfurt, a four-hour train ride to Berlin—and the idea of a first-class lounge was so appealing I could have hugged old Jeff right there and then. When Jeff becomes involved with Francis’ daughter, he finally comes to his boss’ notice but still no revelation of what has brought them together is made.These moments make the narrative flow more dynamic and remind readers that they are listening to a story just as much as they are reading a text. 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. As Jeff finds himself seduced by the lifestyle, he pursues a deeper connection with Francis, until morals become expendable and their relationship becomes ever darker, leaving him to wonder. Jeff is attempting to paint himself as a great person for saving a man’s life, but the narrator asks to what end did he want to be a part of the dealer’s life?