The title calls up a day in 1969, on which a series of odd—at first droll, later increasingly unsettling—incidents begin to beset a doctoral student in Paris. Trying to wrap his head around the forces that threaten to take over his life, Marty and his best friend Augustus spiral into a deepening crisis, even as they question whether what they stumbled upon is only a figment of their imaginations. Unfortunately for them, their summer will end tragically, raising a host of questions about what exactly they encountered on the streets of the fever-hot city.
The Ides of August is a book about friendship, love, and social change, as much as it is about our place in a universe, which is not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine.
"From the very first chapter, the novel blends sharp observational humor with philosophical inquiry. Williams has a knack for making the book’s abstract and existential ideas feel immediate and personal… readers who stick with it will appreciate the deft blend of literary fiction, scientific speculation, and philosophical questions about the fate of humanity… the questions it raises will linger far beyond the end of the book."
- Kirkus Reviews
