Mercury Pictures Presents

Sunny Siberia

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When you entered the executive offices of Mercury Pictures International, you would first see a scale model of the studio itself. Artie Feldman, co-founder and head of production, installed it in the lobby to distract skittish investors from second thoughts. Complete with back lot, sound stages, and facilities buildings, the miniature was a faithful replica of the ten-acre studio in which it sat. Maria Lagana, as rendered by the miniaturist, was a tiny, featureless figure looking out Artie s office window. And this was where the real Maria stood late one morning in 1941, hands holstered on her hips, watching a pigeon autograph the windshield of her boss s new convertible. She d like to buy that bird a drink.

It s a beautiful day out, Art, Maria said. You should really come have a look.

I have, Artie said. It made me want to jump.

Artie wasn t known for his joie de vivre, but he usually didn t fantasize about ending it all this close to lunch. Maria wondered if the Senate Investigation into Motion Picture War Propaganda was giving him agita, but no the crisis at hand was on his head. His bald spot had finally grown too large for his toupee to conceal.

Six other black toupees were shellacked atop wooden mannequin heads on the shelf behind his desk, where a more successful producer might display his Oscars. They were conversation starters. As in, Artie began conversations with new employees by telling them the toupees were the scalps of their predecessors.

As far as Maria could tell, the six hairpieces were the same indistinguishable model and style, but Artie had become convinced that each one crackled with the karmic energy of the hair s original head, unrealized and awaiting release, like a static charge smuggled in a fingertip. Thus, he d named his toupees after their personalities: The Heavyweight, The Casanova, The Optimist, The Edison, The Odysseus, and The Mephistopheles. Artie had never felt more at home in his

Anthony Marra is the New York Times bestselling author of The Tsar of Love and Techno and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, winner of the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and longlisted for the National Book Award.

A gorgeous book . . . sublime. The New York Times (Editors Choice)

With Mercury Pictures Presents [Marra] cements himself as one of the most deft and most enjoyable novelists working today. . . . I could go on for pages about my admiration for Marra s technique and execution . . . but what I most recall is the general warmth of feeling every time I . . . spent time in that world. Chicago Tribune

Epically entertaining  . . . You ll laugh, you ll cry in the marvelous Mercury Pictures Presents. San Francisco Chronicle

So much old-time snappy wit that Mercury Pictures Presents should come with popcorn and a 78-ounce Coke. Ron Charles, The Washington Post

Marra returns with a sprawling story that ushers readers through the streets of pre-World War II Rome. . . . But as compelling as the story and characters are, the real star is the writing. Marra s ability to capture and render both the joy and pain of life . . . remains unmatched. NPR

Crackling with wit . . . Marra s new novel is as epic in sweep as a movie set yet delineates the inner workings of the human heart with a miniaturist s precision. Mercury Pictures Presents explores the endless give-and-take between life and art, the cost of integrity, and the ways we must make peace with the past in order to move toward the future. Celeste Ng

Marra has been compared to Nabokov, Kafka, and Orwell. The word 'brilliant' gets used in all his reviews. Mercury Pictures Presents is a great literary read. Ann Patchett

Funny, verbally inventive and, ultimately, very moving, Mercury Pictures Presents is a wonderful novel. Sunday Times UK, Book of the Month

Marra has ascended to the top of the literary ranks. Booklist (starred review)

Intimate and sweeping, heartfelt and satirical, one of the funniest and most moving novels I ve read in a long time. Jess Walter

Mercury Pictures Presents has all the