Beautiful Ruins - Hardcover

"A literary miracle."--Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air

"A novel with pathos, piercing wit and, most important, the generous soul of a literary classic. . . . Walter has planted himself firmly in the first rank of American authors."--Boston Globe

"A monument to crazy love . . . Walter [is] a believer in capricious destiny with a fine, freewheeling sense of humor."--New York Times

"Walter vividly draws a world both tender and cutthroat, where ambition battles reality, daydreams fight doldrums and sometimes win."--Interview

"A marvel, an absolute gem of a beach read that is both hilarious and heartbreaking."--Huffington Post

"Expertly scratches the seasonal itch for both literary depth and dazzle."--Entertainment Weekly

"Entrancing...Walter's turns of phrase are as brilliant as his plot twists, making for a compelling, fun read."--People

"Lyrical, heartbreaking, and funny . . . Walter closes the deal with such command that you begin to wonder why up till now he's not often been mentioned as one of the best novelists around. Beautiful Ruins might just correct that oversight."--Kansas City Star

"Beautiful . . . A shining, imaginative tale . . . Beautiful Ruins shows novelists how it is done."--The Plain Dealer

"His [Walter's] characters are long-suffering, prone to failure and sometimes at death's door. But the verve and enthusiasm of this novel, from its let's-go-everywhere structure to the comedy in the marrow of its sentences, are wholly life-affirming."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

The award-winning author of The Financial Lives of the Poets presents his most romantic and enjoyable novel yet that follows a young Italian innkeeper and his almost-love affair with a beautiful American starlet, which draws him into a glittering world filled with unforgettable characters. 75,000 first printing.