Commission

The second work to appear in English (following Under the Evening Sky ) from this talented Norwegian author is no conventional mystery. Although the tale is set in motion by a death, we never learn for certain how it took place or who caused it. The narrator, a famous (though currently unproductive) writer so determined to remain anonymous that he employs not a first-person ``I'' but a third-person ``one,'' is offered a commission: the wealthy family of Sebastian Warden, who died in Singapore under mysterious circumstances, wants a book written about him. Although apparently indifferent to both the commission and the dead man, the narrator speaks to Sebastian's family, lover, acquaintances and psychiatrist as well as to the woman who received his heart in transplant surgery. The Sebastian that emerges from these interviews is a tantalizing and enigmatic melange of a figure that, along with a nameless dog who meanders through the story, exerts a profound influence on the reluctant sleuth who pursues him. Beautifully crafted and rendered in exquisitely spare prose, this powerful literary novel will richly reward those who are interested in reading beyond the ordinary. (Nov.)