Ed King

Ed King is a retelling of the Oedipal myth and an examination of the narcissism that manifests in tech titans.  The title figure is the founder of a company called Pythia who has ambitions on a par with Bezos and Musk--that is, to rule not only the world but the universe.

Of course, as in the myth of Oedipus, there is a price to pay for ambition and blindness wedded to narcissism.  

I wrote this book in a state of high chagrin about where we're headed as a species.  If it's propulsive--and I think it is--that's because I felt propelled while writing it.  Like the Greek tragedy on which it's based, Ed King is relentless, a kind of pressure cooker.

Human beings are, at least for me, fundamentally unfathomable.  I've found that, with each novel, I'm granted a fresh opportunity to walk in the labyrinthine hallways of self, and that, with the writing, doors open onto heretofore unexplored passageways.  Ed King largely felt that way to me as I moved forward in it.  It's urban, contemporary, dark, comic, and a narrative exploration of the perils--for all of us--in hubris.

Praise

A New York Times Notable Book

A Seattle Times Book of the Year

“Guterson is one of America’s most talented novelists. This time, he has taken on a daunting task and succeeded. . . . [Ed King] should add to Guterson’s already glittering reputation.” Fredericksburg.com  

“Sweeping. . . Ed King, a reimagining of Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus Rex,’ the Greek tale of patricide and incest, is grounded in spot-on morality tales of exceedingly normal people who are doing their best to struggle through their middle- and upper-middle-class existence. . . [Guterson’s] portraits of humanity are real, and exceedingly enjoyable to read.”  The San Francisco Chronicle 

 “Ed King is compulsively readable and witheringly funny. Guterson's narrative voice—by turns savage and sad, amused and outraged—becomes a kind of Greek chorus of one. . . . a transcendently dark and dazzling book.”  The Seattle Times