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Description
AN NPR NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the award-winning and bestselling author of Feed comes a raucous, slyly funny, and delightfully queer work of historical fantasy, based on a bizarre but true quest to steal the mystical corpse of a long-dead saint
"[An] uproarious saga . . . drawing on contemporary accounts, fantastical folk tales, and [Anderson's] own knack for high jinks."—New York Times Book Review
"[A] rollicking comic novel."—NPR
The year is 1087, and a pox is sweeping through the Italian city of Bari. When a lowly monk is visited by Saint Nicholas in his dreams, he interprets the vision as a call to serve the sick. But his superiors, and the power brokers they serve, have different plans for the tender-hearted Brother Nicephorus.
Enter Tyun, a charismatic treasure hunter renowned for “liberating” holy relics from their tombs. The seven-hundred-year-old bones of Saint Nicholas are rumored to weep a mysterious liquid that can heal the sick, Tyun says. For the humble price of a small fortune, he will steal the bones and deliver them to Bari, curing the plague and restoring glory to the fallen city. And Nicephorus, the “dreamer,” will be his guide.
What follows is a heist for the ages, as Nicephorus is swept away on strange tides, and alongside even stranger bedfellows, to commit sacrilegious theft. Based on real historical accounts, Nicked is a swashbuckling saga, a medieval novel noir, a meditation on the miraculous, and a monastic meet-cute, filled with wide-eyed wonder at the world that awaits beyond our own borders.
"[An] uproarious saga . . . drawing on contemporary accounts, fantastical folk tales, and [Anderson's] own knack for high jinks."—New York Times Book Review
"[A] rollicking comic novel."—NPR
The year is 1087, and a pox is sweeping through the Italian city of Bari. When a lowly monk is visited by Saint Nicholas in his dreams, he interprets the vision as a call to serve the sick. But his superiors, and the power brokers they serve, have different plans for the tender-hearted Brother Nicephorus.
Enter Tyun, a charismatic treasure hunter renowned for “liberating” holy relics from their tombs. The seven-hundred-year-old bones of Saint Nicholas are rumored to weep a mysterious liquid that can heal the sick, Tyun says. For the humble price of a small fortune, he will steal the bones and deliver them to Bari, curing the plague and restoring glory to the fallen city. And Nicephorus, the “dreamer,” will be his guide.
What follows is a heist for the ages, as Nicephorus is swept away on strange tides, and alongside even stranger bedfellows, to commit sacrilegious theft. Based on real historical accounts, Nicked is a swashbuckling saga, a medieval novel noir, a meditation on the miraculous, and a monastic meet-cute, filled with wide-eyed wonder at the world that awaits beyond our own borders.
Product Details
| Publisher | Pantheon |
| Publish Date | July 23, 2024 |
| Pages | 240 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780593701607 |
| Dimensions | 8.6 X 5.7 X 1.0 inches | 0.8 pounds |
About the Author
M. T. ANDERSON is the New York Times best-selling author of Feed, a National Book Award finalist and winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, winner of the 2006 National Book Award; and Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad, a Boston Globe–Horn Book Prize winner, among many other books for children and young adults. He is also the author of three graphic novels, including The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, a National Book Award finalist, with Eugene Yelchin. Elf Dog & Owl Head, his most recent novel for children, won a Newbery Honor. He lives in New England.
Reviews
"[An] uproarious saga . . . drawing on contemporary accounts, fantastical folk tales, and [Anderson's] own knack for high jinks."—New York Times Book Review
"[A] rollicking comic novel."
—NPR
"M. T. Anderson is one of our greatest and most precious voices."
—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians Trilogy
"This book is terrific . . . . very poetic, surprisingly romantic, funny. I just really loved it."
—Rainbow Rowell, author of Eleanor & Park and Fangirl
"If there’s one thing about M.T. Anderson, it’s that he’s going to write a book with a plot that’s as delightful and captivating as it is downright strange. His adult debut Nicked is no exception."
—Polygon
"Anderson is a once-in-a-generation perfect storm of wit, ethical zing, and sheer linguistic power."
—George Saunders, author of Liberation Day and Lincoln in the Bardo
"[Nicked] positively thrums with excitement . . . . There’s something of The Princess Bride in Anderson’s simultaneous undercutting and celebration of adventure fiction."
—Boston Globe
"The 11th century queer romantic adventure you didn’t know you were looking for."
—Los Angeles Times
"Wish The Road to Eldorado was canonically gay? Read Nicked . . . . Think Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, with its dry wit and profound existential themes, all centered around two characters trying to grasp something ineffable and grabbing hold of only each other."
—Bookriot
"Witty and deeply affecting, a pointed send-up of power, theology, ownership, and the divine, all executed with masterful flair."
—Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Manhunt and Cuckoo
"An epic adventure on land and sea . . . . Reminiscent of Indiana Jones and The Princess Bride, Nicked delivers an entertaining and grown-up adventure rooted in religion, humanity and friendship."
—Bookpage
"Miracles, marvels, saints, sinners, love, plague, and treachery! M. T. Anderson has laid out a medieval feast of a novel, stuffed with everything I could have wished for."
—Kelly Link, author of The Book of Love
"A miracle worker, M. T. Anderson has exhumed the bones of holy legend and startled them to life."
—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Elphie
"[A] rich combination of action, adventure, history and fantasy . . . [and a] precise yet irreverent approach to historical fiction."
—WBUR
"M.T. Anderson is simply one of the best writers working today in any genre."
—Parade
"A deeply entertaining work of historical fiction—and we can never resist a good heist story."
—Town & Country
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