More
praise for The Last Bookaneer:
"An
entertaining adventure tale steeped in literary
history tells of rival book pirates seeking their
biggest prize, the last novel of Robert Louis
Stevenson (1850-94). Pearl (The Technologists, 2012,
etc.) extrapolates from a scrap of history about the
illicit 19th-century trade in books before the
international copyright law of 1891 to imagine a busy
demimonde of bookaneers (he says in an afterword he
found the term used as early as 1837) working in New
York and London. He brings in the characters Whiskey
Bill and Kitten from his 2009 novel, The Last Dickens,
both central to subplots in the present novel. The
main plot has the two leading bookaneers, Davenport
and Belial, vying for the Stevenson prize by voyaging
to Samoa, where the author of Treasure Island has
established himself as a sort of philosopher-king.
Davenport has a sidekick named Fergins, a former
bookseller, who plays Watson to his companion's
Holmes. As usual with Pearl, sleuthing helps drive the
story, especially when Davenport uses his keen eye and
deductive skills to investigate Kitten's death after
her great coup, finding a Mary Shelley manuscript.
Mostly the story dawdles on Samoa, waiting for the
great author to finish his masterpiece and for a
chance to outwit the devilish Belial. Pearl has fun
with cannibals, a native beauty, an amorous dwarf,
myriad literary references and allusions, and not one
but two neat twists as the tale winds down. He also
plays with narrative voices, delivering most of the
story through Fergins' memories of it but as told to
Clover, a black railway porter befriended by the
bookseller and a key figure in the final twist. The
narrative device adds another layer of 19th-century
literary atmosphere. Pearl is a smooth writer whose
adoption of the ambling pace, digressions, and
melodrama of an earlier literary era may not suit
today's instant gratifiers, but he offers many of the
charms and unrushed distractions of a favorite old
bookstore." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Matthew
Pearl has a particular specialty: finding an obscure
corner of 19th-century history and spinning from it
literary fiction that is thought-provoking,
enlightening, smoothly written — and a ripping good
story to boot. Among his previous works are “The Poe
Shadow,” which postulates an answer to the writer’s
enigmatic death, and “The Last Dickens,” about a
daring search for the author’s final, unfinished
manuscript. Sound dry? Hardly. Pearl’s work is always
seasoned with an assortment of vivid figures:
scalawags, brave heroes, murderers and the like,
echoing the melodramatic tone of much of the era’s
literature. The Boston writer’s latest is “The Last
Bookaneer”, another bracing adventure set in the world
of 19th-century literature lovers. “Bookaneers” were
literary pirates who took advantage of the era’s lack
of international-copyright law to sell, without
permission, unpublished manuscripts by famous writers.
(Pearl explains in an afterword that the term dates
from at least the 1830s.) In this case, it’s 1891 and
two bitter rivals, Pen Davenport and the sinisterly
named Belial, are vying for a genuine treasure: Robert
Louis Stevenson’s final novel. To this end they
journey to Samoa, where the charismatic, world-famous
Stevenson has set himself up as a philosopher-king,
claiming dominion over a vast estate and gaining the
absolute loyalty of a large staff. But he’s deathly
ill and determined to finish one last manuscript.
Davenport and Belial insinuate themselves into
Stevenson’s circle, disguised respectively as a writer
and missionary. Each hopes to wait until the
manuscript is complete, steal it — and then get away
alive, since Stevenson’s minions would unhesitatingly
kill the thief. Pearl expertly evokes the
half-idyllic, half-fierce Samoa of those days.
(There’s a whiff here of Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novel
“Heart of Darkness,” which also examines “civilized”
versus “savage” society. Meanwhile, Stevenson’s role
as a self-appointed tribal chief nicely mirrors
Conrad’s Mr. Kurtz.) Pearl has provided a number of
colorful fictional secondary characters, including
Stevenson’s spirited wife Fanny, a beautiful,
resourceful servant and her dwarf bodyguard — not to
mention some scary cannibals. The tale is related by
Fergins, a mild-mannered bookseller who becomes
Davenport’s sidekick. Fergins’ audience for his
narrative is Clover, a railway porter with an appetite
for literature. Clover, at first just an avid
listener, proves crucial to one of the clever twists
at the book’s end. Pearl is a demon researcher, but
“The Last Bookaneer” wears those studies lightly —
there’s not a single dull lecture hall in sight. The
author’s passion for detail, combined with his gift
for balancing a leisurely pace with fast-moving
action, makes for a deeply satisfying experience." --
Seattle Times
"'Fifteen
men on the dead man’s chest. Yo-ho-ho and a trunk full
of manuscripts!' At the tail end of the 19th century
copyright law has yet to be established and publishers
are making a killing by printing unauthorized
editions. In this world of literary piracy the men and
women employed to do the dirty work of procuring the
unpublished texts are called bookaneers. When a young
bookseller named Fergins is swept off to the South
Pacific island of Samoa by his mentor Pen Davenport,
he becomes involved in one of the last great
adventures of bookaneering, involving dodging
missionaries, cannibals, German settlers, and a
dastardly competitor for a treasure of unknown
value—the latest and, possibly, last novel of Robert
Louis Stevenson. VERDICT This swashbuckling tale of
greed and great literature will remind you why Pearl
(The Dante Club; The Poe Shadow) is the reigning king
of popular literary historical thrillers. His latest
is guaranteed to delight lovers of history and mystery
and will likely find an enthusiastic crossover
audience among those who enjoy the works of Carlos
Ruiz Zafón (The Watcher in the Shadows), Erik Larson
(In the Garden of Beasts), and Katherine Howe (The
House of Velvet and Glass)."-- Library Journal
(starred review)
"What
is a 'bookaneer'? A literary pirate, apparently, in
the days before the American drew up their copyright
laws in teh middle of the 19th century... The greatest
bookaneers in the world are racing to the island of
Samoa, where one of the world's greatest bestsellers
is dying but rumored to be finishing one final
masterpiece. He is Robert Louis Stevenson, and a
typically RLS sense of adventure gallops through every
page. The elaborate plot is a mixture of classic heist
and literary history lesson; the whole Victorian world
of letters is cleverly and wittily reimagined." --
Times (London)
"The
Last Bookaneer is entertaining, well constructed and
timely in its imaginative investigation into literary
piracy. Populated by bibliophiles who will get their
hands on books by any means necessary, it's a
seductive read for anyone similarly obsessed." --
Newsday
"Another
giant who bestrode the Victorian era like a colossus,
the writer Robert Louis Stevenson, is the focus of a
second towering imaginative feat of fictional
recreation by Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante Club.
Stevenson, the creator of Treasure Island, ended his
days on a real island, the South Seas paradise of
Samoa, where he held court as a sort of chieftain,
revered by the Samoans as ‘Tusitala’ — ‘the teller of
tales’. Into this Eden trespass two serpents: Pen
Davenport and his mortal enemy Belial, the
‘Bookaneers’. They are literary pirates set on
plundering Stevenson’s legacy, and, in the process,
destroying each other with a ruthlessness worthy of
Long John Silver himself. Pearl’s interweaving of this
fictional rivalry with the actual story of Stevenson’s
last days, as he struggles to complete a final
masterpiece that the ‘Bookaneers’ are equally set on
stealing, is masterly story-telling almost worthy of
Tusitala himself." -- Daily Mail
"The
Last Bookaneer is a celebration of the written word."
-- Christian Science Monitor
"Matthew
Pearl’s historical jigsaw puzzle of literary larceny,
deception, and derring-do... Packed with bookish love
and intrigue, “The Last Bookaneer" winningly
transforms what Pearl notes in his afterword as a
“fragment of legal and publishing history” into
fictional magic." -- Boston Globe
"The
Last Bookaneer is a rollicking romp in which the
publishing industry is depicted as a business as
scintillating as mining for gold. Equal parts
adventure on teh South Seas and literary fiction set
in civilized and cerebral England, this story is chock
full of sly remarks skewering the publishing industry.
The questions of intellectual property faced in the
1890s are just as complex and engaging as those we
encounter in today's technological world. As in his
previous work, Matthew Pearl seamlessly braids fact
and fiction into an imaginative yarn that will
enthrall bibliophiles and adventure fans alike."--
Bookpage Magazine
"In
this rollicking page-turner, Pearl shines light on the
shocking and little-known historical practice of
stealing authors’ work, publishing it without their
permission, then selling it for cheap, wrapping it up
into an imagined account of crafty “bookaneer” Pen
Davenport. At the end of the 19th century, just as the
law was cracking down on these manuscript thefts, Pen
races to reach a dying Robert Louis Stevenson—and
steal what might be his final book—before his nemesis
does. This grand literary adventure will sweep you off
your feet."--Barnes and Noble Reads
"An
enthralling, unusual story, filled with adventure and
deceit, that has something interesting to say about
the perpetually tangled relationship between
literature and commerce."--BBC History Magazine
"Historical fiction can be a tricky business. Its
success relies heavily on an author finding a way to
strike the delicate balance between historical
accuracy and narrative engagement. Lean too far one
way, you’ve got an overly dry, academic-feeling bore.
Too far the other, you’ve got a story that –
regardless of overall quality - warrants air-quotes
around the word “historical.” Matthew Pearl has long
had the knack for finding the center of the historical
fiction Venn diagram. His latest – “The Last
Bookaneer” (Penguin Press) – is just one more example
of his ability to bring history’s people and places to
vividly compelling life. Just before the turn of the
century, a perfect storm was occurring in the literary
realm. The popularity of books was exploding and
copyright law (both domestic and international)
struggled to keep up. This led to the brief blossoming
of the bookaneers – men and women devoted to smuggling
illicit pages from country to country and continent to
continent, selling the best and brightest of books to
the highest bidder. In that environment, permission
took a back seat to simple possession; if you had it
first, you were the one able to reap the benefits –
regardless of what the publishers or authors might
otherwise desire. Mr. Fergins is a humble bookseller,
living out his golden years pushing a cart up and down
a passenger train. However, he is a man with a past –
a past he willingly lays out for a voracious young
reader of his acquaintance. His is the story of the
last days of the bookaneers and his time with one of
the giants of the trade, a man named Pen Davenport.
Fergins had served at the pleasure of Mr. Davenport
for some time; however, a new international treaty
promises to bring literary piracy to screeching halt.
The end of the bookaneering era is at hand. However,
Davenport enlists Fergins for one last mission, a
voyage to the South Seas to track down a written
treasure that will likely prove to be one of the most
elusive (and lucrative) acquisitions of Davenport’s
lengthy career. Rumor has it that Robert Louis
Stevenson – perhaps the single most popular literary
figure of the time – has relocated his entire family
to Samoa in an effort to escape the omnipresent eyes
of the publishing world. However, according to these
same rumors, Stevenson is also working on his final
novel, a magnum opus that some believe will be the
greatest of his many great works. Suffice it to say,
Pen Davenport wants those pages. Fergins embraces the
intrigue of the opportunity – not to mention the
promised good fortune – but it soon becomes clear that
they were not the sole recipients of that rumor. There
are others; rivals to Davenport who are capable of
doing anything to get Stevenson’s words for
themselves. Soon, Fergins and Davenport are embroiled
in a conflict far larger than they ever could have
imagined – a conflict with potentially far-reaching
repercussions. Most people likely have little or no
knowledge regarding the time of the bookaneers. That
said, it’s a fascinating time in literary history and
Pearl’s understanding of that fact informs “The Last
Bookaneer.” His story is seamlessly integrated into
this world; historical and fictional figures are
brought together with ease as he brings an overlooked
moment in history into the spotlight. It is fast-paced
and smart and thoughtful - an altogether outstanding
read. In Fergins, Pearl has created a delightfully
engaging narrator; his point of view serves to ground
us, giving us a first-person look at the world in
which these people are living. As he exists mostly on
the periphery, his relation of the tale takes on a
fly-on-the-wall quality that offers a lovely
observational perch from which the reader can survey
the proceedings. “The Last Bookaneer” is a remarkable
book; Pearl has taken a relatively minor historical
footnote and spun a thrilling, fascinating tale of
literary intrigue. The richness of the backdrop –
particularly the portrayal of Samoa – is textured and
nuanced. The reader tumbles headlong into the world
being created, borne across the land and sea by
Pearl’s intricate narrative and expressive prose." --
The Maine Edge
"Required
Reading. Writer Pearl imagines an epic crime in the
late 19th century world of “bookaneers,” the literary
pirates who published books without authors’
permission. As the novel opens, swashbuckling
bookaneer Pen Davenport heads to Samoa, where a dying
Robert Louis Stevenson labors over his last novel.
There, the race is on, not only against rival
bookaneers circling the great author but against time:
Davenport must publish the book before a international
treaty renders the bookaneers obsolete." -- New York
Post
"In
the days before e-books, self-publishing, and fan
fiction, publishing was an even riskier undertaking—or
so Pearl (The Dante Club) makes an entertaining case
for in his latest, ingenious literary caper. The
author imagines the life of 19th-century manuscript
thieves called bookaneers, who unscrupulously
published others’ novels on their own, thereby
depriving authors of their financial due. It is
Pearl’s contention that a historical 1890s
international copyright agreement would soon put an
end to this illegal practice, and he imaginatively
conjures up two such bookaneers, Pen Davenport and his
assistant, Edgar Fergins, who embark on one last
mission, traveling to Samoa to steal a dying Robert
Louis Stevenson’s final manuscript, The Shovels of
Newton French. Arriving at the author’s mountain
compound, Davenport, in the guise of a travel writer,
finds competition from a rival bookaneer named Belial,
who is passing for a missionary. And so the race is on
to take Stevenson’s purloined manuscript and return
with it to New York before the new law goes into
effect. But standing in the way of literary glory are
cannibals, incarceration, German colonials, and a
betrayal from beyond the grave. Pearl gives the
bookaneers a lively fictitious history, including a
flashback to the theft of Shelley’s Frankenstein, and
populates it with a colorful cast of roguish
characters, including Davenport’s former partner in
crime, the lovely and enigmatic Kitten. In the end,
this book is a loving testament to the enduring power
of paper books." -- Publishers Weekly
"The
charm and hook for a reader in Matthew Pearl’s novel The
Last Bookaneer is evident from the outset as the
characters rarely stray too far from conversations and
motives that involve books and literature. The
importance of books, as physical objects one can hold
and love, has been summarized any number of ways, but
let’s allow Pen Davenport, a bookaneer, to attempt it
once again. “Books inspire a man to embrace the world
or flee it. They start wars and end them. They make
the men and women who write and publish them vast
fortunes, and nearly as quickly can drive them into
madness and despair.” That’s probably not going to
happen when reading on a tablet or iPhone. “The Last
Bookaneer” is set in the era before copyright laws
when a manuscript was the property of the beholder
rather than the author. If a famous author’s
manuscript could be stolen and whisked away to America
before it was published in Europe there was much money
to be gained and even some renown for these pilferers
of literature—bookaneers. In The Last Bookaneer,
the ranks of bookaneers are thinning as the date of
international copyright law approaches and the
profession will no longer be lucrative. But for two of
the world’s last and most notorious bookaneers, there
is rumored to be one final holy grail to cap a career.
Robert Louis Stevenson is gravely ill and believed to
be working feverishly to finish his masterpiece before
he dies. If a bookaneer were able to steal that
manuscript, well the windfall would allow him or her
to retire to their own tropical paradise. The race is
on. Stevenson spent his final years on Samoa and any
bookaneer attempt was going to require perilous ocean
travel and, upon arrival, possible reception by head
hunters or cannibals (not certain if they are mutually
exclusive). Pearl sets his stage very well (cannibals
and Robert Louis Stevenson!) and the ending is sure to
please, but perhaps as enjoyable as the tale is the
interspersing of literary references to Dickens and
Mary Shelley and the fabled quests of bookaneers borne
of rumored lost stories penned by literary giants. For
anyone who has ever spent time in a used bookstore
perusing the shelves and looking for a great “find,” The
Last Bookaneer is a pleasure to read. Pearl
captures the essence of books and the importance they
hold in society and in our lives. That can never be
stolen."-- Free-Lance Star (Fredericksburg, VA)
"We
readers must keep our eyes open, listen carefully,
trust no one amid hurricanes, humid prisons and
exciting escapes, trying to figure out who’s conning
whom and who’ll succeed in the plan to steal the
manuscript. This is a fascinating, extremely well
written, compulsively page-turning novel with
surprises at every unexpected turn. Pearl’s a master
of such tales and keeps us guessing until the final
pages." -- Providence Journal
"Writing
mischievously clever novels about famous writers is
Pearl’s forte. His first “bookaneers” or literary
pirates appeared in The Last Dickens (2009), and they
now command this entire tale of obsession and
nefariousness. This passionately researched and
ebulliently imagined yarn is narrated by Fergins, an
unassuming English book dealer who ends up in cahoots
with the bookaneer Penrose Davenport, culminating in a
mad voyage to Samoa, where the ailing Robert Louis
Stevenson is reportedly finishing a new novel. Intent
on stealing the manuscript, the duo manages to
ingratiate themselves with Stevenson and his outspoken
wife, Fanny, only to discover that Davenport’s
archrival, Belial, is also on the scene. As the
bookaneers scheme, tall, gaunt, zealous Stevenson,
coughing and smoking, serves as a veritable king to
the Samoans in his employ and becomes embroiled in
opposition to the German occupation. As the action
erupts into the sort of significant cliffhanger
exploits Stevenson specialized in, Pearl’s vividly
descriptive and energetically plotted novel churns and
charms with intriguing literary history, acid social
critique, witty dialogue, and delectably surprising
and diabolical reversals and betrayals." -- Booklist
|