*βA wild ride of a book . . . A story in which anything and everything can happen, and mostly does. This is a book of many trips--across oceans, back to the past, and, most profoundly, into the infinite deep space of the human heart. Brock Clarke has given us a wonderful novel that bursts with all the meaty stuff of real life.β βBen Fountain, author of Billy Lynnβs Long Halftime Walk *
With the comic unpredictability of a Wes Anderson movie and the inventive sharpness of a John Irving novel, author Brock Clarke introduces readers to an ordinary man who is about to embark on an absurdly extraordinary adventure.
After his mother, a theologian and bestselling author, dies in a fiery explosion, forty-nine-year-old Calvin Bledsoeβs heretofore uninspired life is upended. A stranger shows up at the funeral, claiming to be Calvinβs aunt Beatrice, and insists that Calvin accompany her on a trip to Europe, immediately.
As he and Beatrice traverse the continent, it quickly becomes apparent that his auntβs clandestine behavior is leading him into danger. Facing a comic menagerie of antiquities thieves, secret agents, religious fanatics, and an ex-wife whoβs stalking him, Calvin begins to suspect there might be some meaning behind the madness. Maybe heβs not the person he thought he was? Perhaps no one is who they appear to be? But thereβs little time for soul-searching, as Calvin first has to figure out why he has been kidnapped, why his aunt disappeared, and who the hell burned down his house. Powered by pitch-perfect dialogue, lovable characters, and surprising optimism, Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe? is a modern-day Travels with My Aunt , a novel about grabbing life, and holding on--wherever it may take you.