The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas is an intriguing mix of genre styles, from fiction to mystery, investigative journalism to biography. It’s also a mash of story-telling, emails, letters, transcripts of phone calls, documents, and newspaper clippings and reads like nothing I’ve read in a long time (maybe ever?)
Title: The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Mass
Author: Daniel James
First Published: November 22, 2018
Publisher: Dead Ink Books
Categories: Fiction
Acquired: from author
*** Thank you to the author, Daniel James, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
Ezra Maas is dead. The famously reclusive artist vanished without a trace seven years ago whilst working on his final masterpiece, but his body was never found. While the Maas Foundation prepares to announce his death, journalist Daniel James finds himself hired to write the untold story of the artist’s life – but this is no ordinary book. The deeper James delves into the myth of Ezra Maas, the more he is drawn into a nightmarish world of fractured identities and sinister doubles.
When I was first approached to read this book but the author, I was a bit hesitant. I don’t really read a lot of biographies or non-fiction books on my blog (culinary non-fiction being the exception), but James made this sound so intriguing and different that I agreed to give it a chance. I’m still not sure if I made the right decision because seriously, I can’t stop thinking about this book.
Who is Ezra Maas?
At first, it seems straightforward – a reclusive artist, Ezra Maas, has disappeared, presumed dead and the Foundation that bears his name is doing everything in its power to erase his work and life story. An investigative reporter, Daniel James, smells a story and tries to uncover the truth. But then it gets weird… so very weird.
Soon after starting on the hunt, James also disappears and his story is continued by an anonymous source who provides the reader with emails, clippings, transcripts, etc to try and trace James’ trail of Maas.
There are four distinct narratives in this book – the first is (obviously) James’s investigation into the life and disappearance of Ezra Maas; the second is the life and work of Ezra Maas himself (what little can be found); the third is the narrative from the anonymous source that takes up the story after James disappears and the fourth is all evidence compiled within these pages. Everything is has such a real feeling to it.
Is this book for real?
I was totally drawn into this book. I even Googled Ezra Maas when I first started reading to learn more about this artist I had never heard of. If you want to become even more confused, definitely Google Ezra Maas. You’re in for a wild ride.
At various points in the story, I was convinced it was real. Then I had to remind myself that it was a work of fiction. But then I had thoughts that maybe may aspects of the fiction were real and based on fact. I’M SO CONFUSED! Add to that the layer of mystery and conspiracy surrounding this book in real life (seriously, Google Ezra Maas) and you’ll see how easy it was for me to lose the line between the book and the real world.
This is a brilliant book. BRILLIANT. It may not be my favourite book of the year, but it’s one that had me invested from the start and it still has my thoughts buzzing like an angry beehive. It’s a busy read – there are so many different topics and copious amounts of footnotes but I never felt like the information was too much. In fact, I could barely get enough. This is a book that feels more like an experience or some modern art installation and definitely will have you questioning if everything you believe is real is actually fiction (or vice versa).
Read The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas for yourself
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