The Black Book - Softcover

'A glorious flight of dark, fantastic invention ... It offers many pleasures, Gothic, Borgesian and other, the best of which is a vision of Istanbul as a city of sinister complexity.' (Patrick McGrath)

'[An] extraordinary novel ... Melancholy and satirical in equal measure, dizzyingly complex without ever losing its seductive power, it is up there with the best of Eco, Calvino, Borges and Marquez.' (Observer)

'Dazzling ... Turns the detective novel on its head.' (Joan Smith Independent on Sunday)

The Black Book is Orhan Pamuk's tour de force, a stunning tapestry of Middle Eastern and Islamic culture which confirmed his reputation as a writer of international stature. Richly atmospheric and Rabelaisian in scope, it is a labyrinthine novel suffused with the sights, sounds and scents of Istanbul, an unforgettable evocation of the city where East meets West, and a boldly unconventional mystery that plumbs the elusive nature of identity, fiction, interpretation and reality.