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Mouth to Mouth

A Novel

by Antoine Wilson

Narrator Edoardo Ballerini

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Length 4 hours 52 minutes

Language English

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Bookseller recommendation

“While waiting for a delayed flight at JFK, an unnamed narrator listens to the confession of a successful art dealer eager to share the dark story behind his rise in the art world. It's a surreal and quietly thrilling investigation of destiny and morality, and the reading is so phenomenal, I fell into a deep dive reading about the narrator after finishing the book. (Turns out he's a big deal!)”
— Arianna • P&T Knitwear

Bookseller recommendation

“Throughly original and captivating listen. Highly recommend.”
— Mollie • HearthFire Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Wow, this book is one hell of a ride. Wilson makes you question every sentence spoken by the narrator. It’s a story within a story and I promise it’ll blow you away! ”
— Alden • Water Street Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“One of those novels that seems straightforward. And easy listen, the story unfolds in a nice, linear fashion. A tale recited over drinks at an airport lounge. Then the ending makes you rethink everything. Well written and fascinating. Wonderful narration by Edoardo Ballerini. Again! (He narrates a lot)”
— Kristine • Buttonwood Books and Toys

Bookseller recommendation

“This fascinating novel is a perfect medley of suspense, deceit, and moral ambiguity. In a sharp and concise narrative written as a confession to a former acquaintance, art dealer Jeff tells the story of his rise to success following his saving the life of a drowning man, then entwining himself into the man’s life.”
— Olivia • Author's Note

Bookseller recommendation

“While the narrative of Mouth to Mouth skillfully navigates numerous twists and turns, Antoine Wilson is most compelling when he obsessively dissects its philosophical underpinnings—fate and free will, value and values, ethics and aesthetics, the 'eye' and the 'I'—even as his characters toe the line between sinister and self-serving with unbelievable precision.”
— Joshua • Ballyhoo Books

Summary
About the author

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022 * An NPR and Time Best Book of the Year * Longlisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize (Canada) * Finalist for CALIBA’s 2022 Golden Poppy Awards

A successful art dealer confesses the story of his meteoric rise in this “powerful, intoxicating, and shocking” (The New York Times) novel that’s a “slow burn à la Patricia Highsmith” (Oprah Daily). “You’ll struggle not to rip through in one sitting” (Vogue).

In a first-class lounge at JFK airport, our narrator listens as Jeff Cook, a former classmate he only vaguely remembers, shares the uncanny story of his adult life—a life that changed course years before, the moment he resuscitated a drowning man.

Jeff reveals that after that traumatic, galvanizing morning on the beach, he was compelled to learn more about the man whose life he had saved, convinced that their fates were now entwined. But are we agents of our fate—or are we its pawns? Upon discovering that the man is renowned art dealer Francis Arsenault, Jeff begins to surreptitiously visit his Beverly Hills gallery. Although Francis does not seem to recognize him as the man who saved his life, he nevertheless casts his legendary eye on Jeff and sees something worthy. He takes the younger man under his wing, initiating him into his world, where knowledge, taste, and access are currency; a world where value is constantly shifting and calling into question what is real, and what matters. The paths of the two men come together and diverge in dizzying ways until the novel’s staggering ending.

Sly, suspenseful, and “gloriously addicting” (BuzzFeed), Mouth to Mouth masterfully blurs the line between opportunity and exploitation, self-respect and self-delusion, fact and fiction—exposing the myriad ways we deceive each other, and ourselves.

Fiction Mystery & Thriller Fiction - Literary

Antoine Wilson is the author of the novels Panorama City and The Interloper. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, StoryQuarterly, Best New American Voices, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications, and he is a contributing editor of A Public Space. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and recipient of a Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship from the University of Wisconsin, he lives in Los Angeles. His website is: AntoineWilson.com.