The Apartment

A Navy veteran in his early 40s who has made big money working as a military contractor in Iraq explores an unnamed European city with a possibly romantically inclined local woman, Saskia, in this intriguing debut novel from Baxter, author of the memoir A Preparation for Death. In the course of one day spent searching for an apartment, the anonymous narrator looks back on his role in the American military and his own rather conventional brand of cowardice and hypocrisy: “I hated America, and I wished that it or I did not exist... And when I went to my office, I dressed in a decent suit and put an American flag on the lapel.” This sensitive, unassuming book is notable for its exploration of the basic disparity between the idea of American power and how it is actually manifested in the world—in this case, through the self-admittedly “contemptible” functionary who finds himself seeking an alternate reality in an unfamiliar place, but seems destined to remain “a citizen of resignation.” Where the novel shines most is in the telling—the slow, deliberate narrative unfolds like a quiet symphony, and Baxter’s prose lingers inexplicably, like a beautifully sad song. Agent: Lucy Luck, Lucy Luck Associates. (Dec.)