LILA SAYS

by Chimo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1999

This pseudonymous 1996 debut novel was a bestseller in France, where the mystery surrounding its author's identity itself became a major news item. The story traces the effect on its narrator (Chimo), a 19-year-old Algerian boy adrift in Paris, of the younger Lila, a sexual agent provocateur who regales, excites, and horrifies him with detailed accounts of her (just possibly fictional) erotic misadventures (a fantasy of sex with the Devil inspired by Lila's superstitious aunt is especially appealing). The tension between Chimo's struggles to understand her (and himself) and efforts to express his sense of exclusion from French society paradoxically imbue this tense rÇcit with a suspenseful and rewarding complexity.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1999

ISBN: ---

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999

Categories: FICTION