Lost Empress

A Novel

By: Sergio De La Pava

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, David Ledoux, Mark McCarthy, Geoffrey Campbell, Bob Bray, Quincy T. Bernstine, Ryan Anderson, Richard Ferrone, Tony Chiroldes, Dan Bittner, Various

From the acclaimed PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize-winning author of A Naked Singularity, a shockingly hilarious novel that tackles, with equal aplomb, both America’s most popular sport and its criminal justice system.

From Paterson, New Jersey, to Rikers Island to the streets of New York City, Sergio de la Pava’s Lost Empress introduces listeners to a cast of characters unlike any other in modern fiction: dreamers and exiles, immigrants and night-shift workers, a lonely pastor and others on the fringes of society - each with their own impact on the fragile universe they navigate.

Nina Gill, daughter of the aging owner of the Dallas Cowboys, was instrumental in building her father’s dynasty. So it’s a shock when her brother inherits the franchise and she is left with the Paterson Pork, New Jersey’s failing Indoor Football League team. Nina vows to take on the NFL and make the Paterson Pork pigskin kings of America. All she needs to do is recruit the coach, the players, and the fans.

Meanwhile, Nuno DeAngeles - a brilliant and lethal criminal mastermind - has been imprisoned on Rikers Island for a sensational offense. Nuno fights for his liberty - while simultaneously planning an even more audacious crime.

In Lost Empress, de la Pava weaves a narrative that encompasses Salvador Dalí, Joni Mitchell, psychiatric help, emergency medicine, religion, theoretical physics, and everything in between. With grace, humor, and razor-sharp prose, all these threads combine, counting down to an epic and extraordinary conclusion.

Cast of Narrators:

Main narration, by Edoardo Ballerini

Nina Gill, read by Carol Monda

Dia Nouveau, read by Brittany Pressley

Nuno de Angeles, read by James Fouhey

Major Harris, read by Bob Bray

Daniel Gill, read by Richard Topol

Sharon Seaborg, read by Quincy T. Bernstine

Hugh Seaborg, read by Ryan Anderson

Coach Elkins, read by Richard Ferrone

Feniz Heredia, read by Tony Chiroldes

Larry Brown, read by Jeff Gurner

Travis Mena, read by Dan Bittner

Nelson Cervantes, read by Gonzalo Ingram

Solomon Hanes, read by David LeDoux

Reeves, read by Leo Coltrane

Ed Coin, read by Johnny Heller

Father Ventimiglia, read by Mark McCarthy

The Theorist, read by Geoffrey Campbell

Nina’s Father, read by Richard Poe

And with additional roles read by some of the above and by Francisco Burgos, Christina Delaine, Jim Frangione, Tavia Gilbert, Lianna Gomori, Pete Larkin, Angel Saldana, Adriana Sananes, Brandon Ruben, Paul Ruben, and the author, Sergio de la Pava.

©2018 Sergio De La Pava (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“As with the author’s debut novel, A Naked Singularity (2012), the New York City criminal justice system figures prominently, its jargon and bureaucratic instruments providing realist texture, while its absurdities and cruelties fuel the fury that is this novel’s molten core. Again we witness De La Pava’s gleaming wit, philosophical benders and popculture fixations, and the sheer intensity with which he hurls his words in this even more assured work of incandescent literary maximalism.” (Booklist, starred review)

“Extraordinary... De la Pava is a maximalist worldbuilder, and the incredible multiverse he constructs in this book establishes him as one of the most fearsomely talented American novelists working today.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

“If Thomas Pynchon and Elmore Leonard had conspired to write North Dallas Forty, this might be the result: a madcap, football-obsessed tale of crossed destinies and criminal plots gone awry... [ Lost Empress] is a blast to watch unfold. A whirling vortex of a novel, confusing, misdirecting, and surprising—and a lot of fun.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

Pretty good, though somewhat puzzling.

Very entertaining novel. Excellent full narration cast. Super puzzling ending. Not sure how it shapes the rest of the novel. But its musings on the criminal justice system and on the nature of time are superb.

Digressions for Fun and Profit

But I Digress. That could be another name for this novel. (It could also be the name for A Naked Singularity).

This is not a bad thing.

This philosophical book goes into (sometimes great (and always good)) detail about: Football. Joni Mitchell. Catholic Theology. Physics. Existentialism. The US Justice System. Art. Rikers Island. New Jersey.

And a lot more.

It is funny and deep. And silly and shallow. And also a great performance! Ballerini is just right as the main narrator, but the many members of the full cast do wonderful jobs with their roles. Hearing their performances made me realize what a fantastic job De La Pava does with dialogue.

If you don't like books that meander, you might not like this one. But you still might.

Give it a shot.

Bizarre

From the get go I had no idea where this thing was going or what it was about. And I really tried. I listened to quite a bit of it and then I just gave up. A waste of my time. Sorry, other may think it a masterpiece but I couldn't continue with it. No thanks.