{"product_id":"the-untouchable-9780679767473","title":"The Untouchable","description":"\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE LANNAN LITERARY AWARD FOR FICTION - From the Booker Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sea \u003c\/i\u003ecomes the fascinating story of a former British spy who's been unmasked as a Russian agent--and \"one of spy fiction's greatest characters\"\u003ci\u003e (People). - \u003c\/i\u003e\"Contemporary fiction gets no better than this.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the most dazzling and adventurous writers now working in English takes on the enigma of the Cambridge spies in a novel of exquisite menace, biting social comedy, and vertiginous moral complexity. The narrator is the elderly Victor Maskell, formerly of British intelligence, for many years art expert to the Queen. Now he has been unmasked as a Russian agent and subjected to a disgrace that is almost a kind of death. But at whose instigation? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Maskell retraces his tortuous path from his recruitment at Cambridge to the airless upper regions of the establishment, we discover a figure of manifold doubleness: Irishman and Englishman; husband, father, and lover of men; betrayer and dupe. Beautifully written, filled with convincing fictional portraits of Maskell's co-conspirators, and vibrant with the mysteries of loyalty and identity, \u003ci\u003eThe Untouchable\u003c\/i\u003e places John Banville in the select company of both Conrad and le Carre. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Victor Maskell is one of the great characters in recent fiction.... \u003ci\u003eThe Untouchable\u003c\/i\u003e is the best work of art in any medium on [its] subject.\" --\u003ci\u003eWashington Post Book World\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As remarkable a literary voice as any to come out of Ireland; Joyce and Beckett notwithstanding.\" --\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of more than ten novels, including \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Evidence, \u003c\/i\u003e which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Guinness Peat Aviation Award. He won the Booker Prize for his novel \u003ci\u003eThe Sea \u003c\/i\u003ein 2005. He lives in Dublin.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50844907602194,"sku":"9780679767473","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f0ecfc40-1b9d-4788-a756-03d6fe178ae0.jpg?v=1737336317","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-untouchable-9780679767473","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}