Vzszhhzz

A novel that captures the glancing intersections of a loose group of artists and lawyers, restaurateurs, philosophers, wine-makers, and boxers.

Composed between destinations, in cafes, museums, airplanes, and bars over three years, Jeanne Graff's Vzszhhzz captures the glancing intersections of a loose group of artists and lawyers, restaurateurs, philosophers, wine-makers, and boxers whose lives are conducted almost entirely in languages not their own. A loose chronicle masquerading as a novel, Vszhhzz -- like Michelle Bernstein's All The King's Horses, the Bernadette Corporation's R eena Spaulings, and Natasha Stagg's Surveys -- couches sharp observations in a laconic and ambient style. By not saying too much, Vzszhhzz says everything about the vicissitudes of a creative and transient life.

"There's an art of writing amidst the energies and languages of others, and Graff's ear for existential specificity finds momentum in even the most glancing encounters. Always on the move, Graff's phototropic texts incline toward human heat, hallucinating characters upon contact."
-- John Kelsey