Protagonist Kit Biddle is a rising prep school senior who finds himself tangled in a web of spiritual quandaries and intellectual absurdities. Kit's angst is compounded by a unique psychological burden he is forced to his intelligent but unstable Uncle Nat has committed an unspeakable act on what, according to the Uncle's deranged account, were direct orders from God. The tragedy haunting his family follows Kit like a dark and foreboding cloud, exacerbating his already compulsive struggle with existential questions about the meaning of his life.
When the brilliant, perhaps phantasmic, Anna dismisses him, Kit quickly spirals into despair and self-destruction. But when his irrational decision to steal a maintenance truck and speed aimlessly down the highway ends in a horrific accident and months of both physical and emotional convalescence, Kit is forced to examine his perceptions of his life and his version of reality.
In this exquisite bildungsroman, calamity leads to fresh perspectives, and now it focuses on Kit’s mind and forces him to confront the issues that plague him. Readers will empathize--and celebrate--as the darkness lifts and Kit comes to terms with the necessity of engagement with life's pain, pleasure . . . and absurdity.
An intelligent, clever, and captivating tale, The Essence of Nathan Biddle soars in the spaces that exist between despair and hope, darkness and light, love and loss. Beautifully written, profoundly moving, and resplendent with characters destined to remain with you long after the last page is turned, The Essence of Nathan Biddle is unforgettable.
This is a very unique story. I found myself wanting to know more about some aspects (Nathan) and less about others (Kit's girlfriends), but if you like coming-of-age stories, this is a good one! The book is looooong, as in 440 pages long, but it's not the page count that got me. The story is fantastic, Nathan and Kit and great, but there are a lot of details that I would have cut out. I couldn't put the book down for about the first 300 pages, then I started skimming. I think the story could have been everything it is now at half the page count and I might have given it 5 stars.
If you enjoy coming-of-age stories or wordy literary fiction, definitely pick this one up!
Thank you Greenleaf Book Group and Goodreads for my copy of this book.
Dates read: July 29, 2023 - Aug 13, 2023