Joshua Cohen

In New York’s Carnegie Hall a violin concert is taking place when suddenly there is a commotion. The violin soloist, Laster, is supposed to be giving an improvised solo but instead he lays down his instrument and proceeds to pay homage to the composer of the piece. Schneidemann had disappeared after their last meeting, a visit to the cinema.

In front of the whole assembled New York ‘high society’, including his own ex-wives and their lawyers, Laster recalls what Schneidemann and he had lived through together – the Holocaust, war, and exile in America.

In his debut novel, Joshua Cohen, born in 1980, a graduate of the Manhatten School of Music and one of the most original authors of the younger generation, develops an unusual portrait of an artist. Cohen is a literary critic for Harper’s Magazine and a regular contributor of essays and pieces for the New York Times Book Review.