The Spinning Man George Harrar Paperback $14.00 Read more...

		The Spinning Man George Harrar Hardcover $24.95 Read more...

INTRODUCTION

The Spinning Man, a novel The New York Times called "elegant and unnerving" and The Boston Globe described as "taut, psychological drama," is a mystery with, perhaps, no crime. In many ways, it is a classic "did-he-do-it?" story, yet, there is always one question in the background: "Was anything really done?"

Mild-mannered philosophy professor Evan Birch spends his days teaching college students to seek truth. Then, one afternoon, he's pulled over by the police, handcuffed, and questioned about the disappearance of a local high school cheerleader. When the missing girl's lipstick turns up in his car, the evidence against him begins to build. Even his wife and identical twin sons have their doubts. As the investigating officer engages him in a decidedly non-Socratic dialogue, Birch begins to understand that truth may be elusive indeed. But sometimes you have to pick a story and stick with it.

ABOUT GEORGE HARRAR

George Harrar's fiction has been published in a dozen literary magazines, including his short story "The 5:22," which won the Carson McCullers Prize from Story magazine, and was reprinted in the 1999 edition of Best American Short Stories. He published one previous adult novel, First Tiger.

Harrar grew up in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania and graduated from New York University. He worked as a journalist for many years, writing and editing on several newspapers and magazines. He now lives in Wayland, Massachusetts, with his wife, Linda, a documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on PBS, Discovery, and Turner channels. They have one son, Tony.

The author can be contacted via his website: www.georgeharrar.com or at gharrar@comcast.net

Praise for The Spinning Man:

From The New York Times, April 6, 2003:
"...an elegant and unnerving mystery of psychological suspense...A graceful and subtle writer, Harrar invites us to identify with the philosopher's struggles to maintain his mental equilibrium, even as the novel dangles the possibility that the mind might not always be in control of the body's behaviors. Just a thought . . . if thoughts can be trusted."

From The Boston Globe March 30, 2003:
"George Harrar's taut psychological drama, The Spinning Man, occurs almost exclusively in the mind of Evan Birch, a professor in the troubled philosophy department in a small-town college. And quite a mind it is, as Birch dissects Wittgenstein, volleys lovingly with his wife over Proust, comforts their twin 10-year-old sons, and takes notice of the peculiar habits of his female students....Harrar succeeds wonderfully in creating two worlds for us: reality as Birch sees it, and the one we cobble together from the people with whom the professor interacts. Clues open to more than one interpretation are scattered about, and secrets once thought to be inconsequential now seem to threaten the Birch family's well-being...It's a marvelous performance by Harrar, who blends the commonplace and the esoteric with exceptional ease."

From Kirkus Reviews:
"A harrowing psychological thriller from Harrar (Parents Wanted, 2001, etc.) about a mild-mannered philosophy professor who falls under suspicion of kidnapping.... A splendid exercise in suspense and terror: keeps you guessing right to the end. "

From Publishers Weekly (Starred Review):
"This riveting, whip-smart suspense novel by Harrar (First Tiger) follows a philosophy professor under investigation for the disappearance of a teenage cheerleader...The interactions between husband, wife and the police detective crackle with sharp dialogue. The result is a first-rate thriller that offers gut-wrenching suspense, ironic humor and a devious, cerebral suspect, with a stunning finale to boot."

From Washington Post Book World:
"A suspenseful, did-he-or-didn't-he plot and an unblinking look at the tensions of family life... an interesting, offbeat read."

A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE HARRAR

How did you get the idea to write The Spinning Man?
A few years ago a teenage girl disappeared from a lake in a small town in Massachusetts, west of where I live. News reports said that the police were interested in a suspicious white car seen in the parking lot about the time of the disappearance. I began wondering about who was in that car and for what reason he (I presumed a "he") might not come forward to the police. If the driver were guilty of an abduction, of course he wouldn't present himself to the authorities. But there seemed to me to be good reasons why an innocent man might also not want to step into the limelight. Becoming the object of suspicion can be a traumatic experience, especially when it's so difficult to prove that you did not do something.

So guilt and innocence are primary themes in your story?
Yes. I wrote from the close, third-person perspective. The action is always seen through the eyes of my protagonist, Evan Birch. Readers are accustomed to trusting the narrator in any novel. At some point in The Spinning Man, you have to decide whether you will continue to believe Evan's explanations, given the mounting circumstantial evidence against him.

So your novel tells the story of a real girl disappearing?
No, I deliberately didn't read anything about the missing girl because I wanted the freedom to invent my own story.

Why does the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein keep appearing in The Spinning Man?
Wittgenstein was a fascinating Austrian thinker who wrote widely admired philosophical treatises focusing on language primarily. Like many philosophers, he lived a somewhat tortured life, documented in Ray Monk's biography, The Duty of Genius. I was interested in the possibility of my character, a philosophy professor, having a secret private life that could be more and more revealed as the story went along. Wittgenstein's life provides a nice parallel, and of course, he's very quotable.

Where can we find out more about Wittgenstein?
Monk's book is a good start, and I've provided some links to web pages of interest.

Is The Spinning Man a mystery, a thriller, a literary novel?
I suppose a little of each. I actually hadn't thought of it as a thriller until it was described that way in the Washington Post Review. I certainly didn't write a standard genre mystery. I hope I wrote a mainstream, literary novel that has a mystery at its core.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The Spinning Man has been reviewed in the crime, suspense and thriller genres, as well as literary fiction. How do you categorize this book? Explain.


2. What elements do you expect to find in a mystery, and does The Spinning Man contain these? Is this book satisfying to a frequent mystery reader?


3. How does your opinion of Evan Birch change, as incriminating evidence against him mounts? At what point to you doubt whether he is a reliable narrator?


4. Is Detective Malloy a bumbling, small-town investigator or a clever interrogator of Evan?


5. Does Ellen act like a supportive, or suspicious, wife? Cite reasons why she could justifiably be either.


6. The Spinning Man explores the way an accusation takes on a life of its own and can destroy a man and his reputation. Did Evan do everything he could to clear his name?


7. Was Evan foolhardy to talk with Joyce Bonner's father at the lake or merely exhibiting a curiosity about human nature that is fundamental to a man of philosophy?


8. What is the significance of Evan being unable to distinguish between his identical twins at several points in the book, and in particular at the end?


9. What point does Evan make about circumstances to argue that it would not be surprising to discover that he had given a ride to Joyce Bonner at the summer arts camp?


10. Evan speaks of the "open-window theory of change" to Ellen. How might that apply to his own situation?


11. What kind of joke does Evan think might make Wittgenstein, or God, laugh?


12. Lawyer Paul Curry asks Evan, "You didn't have any relationship with the missing girl, is that true?" Why doesn't Evan want to answer this question?


13. Do you believe Evan was involved in the disappearance of the 16-year-old girl? Cite specific facts or observations from the book to support your position.


14. If you could ask the author one question, what would it be?