About the author
David Szalay is a British-Hungarian novelist known for spare prose and unusual structures. His fiction often follows people across borders, status changes, and the moments when a life turns before its central character has found words for what happened.
David Szalay leaves wide spaces between episodes and keeps dialogue spare. István's habitual answers—brief, practical, resistant to interpretation—make the surrounding machinery of class, sex, violence, and money more visible.
Where to start
Start with Flesh. István moves from an uneasy adolescence in Hungary through war, security work, wealth, and loss, speaking least when his life changes most.
