Dictation: A Quartet

By: Cynthia Ozick

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Synopsis: &“Four expertly turned stories&” of comedy, deception, and revenge from the acclaimed author of Heir to the Glimmering World (TheNew York Times Book Review). A New York Times Notable Book Dictation brings together four long stories by this Pulitzer and Man Booker Prize finalist, forming a quartet of sly humor and piercing insight into the human heart. The title story imagines a fateful meeting between the secretaries to Henry James and Joseph Conrad at the peak of their fame. Timid Miss Hallowes, who types for Conrad, comes under the influence of James&’s Miss Bosanquet, high-spirited, flirtatious, and scheming. In a masterstroke of genius, Ozick hatches a plot between them to insert themselves into literary posterity. Each story in the collection starts in the comic mode, with heroes who suffer willful self-deceit. From self-deception, these not-so-innocents proceed to deceive others, who don&’t take it lightly. Revenge is the consequence—and for the reader, a delicious if dark recognition of emotional truth. In Dictation, an author whose stories have won four O. Henry first prizes &“reveals herself a master&” (The New York Times Book Review). &“A testament to the seductions of language and the smoldering aspirations of art.&” —O, The Oprah Magazine &“A brilliant book, a necessary book, a book that radiates the true intelligence of literature from every page.&” —The New York Observer

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