"A witty, roller-coaster ride of uncertain identity set against the gritty certainties of New York City. In compelling, unadorned prose, Richard Wiley gives us a bewitching and ultimately moving tale." --Caryl Phillips, author of A Distant Shore and The Lost Child Dr. Ruby Okada meets a charming man with a Scottish accent in the elevator of her psychiatric hospital. Unaware that he is an escaping patient, she falls under his spell, and her life and his are changed forever by the time they get to the street. Who is the mysterious man? Is he Archie B. Billingsly, suffering from dissociative identity disorder and subject to brilliant flights of fancy and bizarre, violent fits? Or is he the reincarnation of Robert Louis Stevenson, back to haunt New York as Long John Silver and Mr. Edward Hyde? Her career compromised, Ruby soon learns that her future and that of her unborn child depend on finding the key to his identity. With compelling psychological descriptions and terrifying, ineffable transformations, Bob Stevenson is an ingenious tale featuring a quirky cast of characters drawn together by mutual fascination, need, and finally, love. Richard Wiley is the author of eight novels including Soldiers in Hiding, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and Ahmed's Revenge, winner of the Maria Thomas Fiction Award. Professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he divides his time between Los Angeles, California and Tacoma, Washington.

Co-op available Significant bound galley printing for media and booksellers. eGalley distribution to media, booksellers, and librarians through Edelweiss. Additional bound galley giveaways possible at the American Library Association Annual conference and through the PNBA New Title Preview program National print, public radio, and online media outreach Author statement available in sales kits and press material Tour: Los Angeles, CA; Denver, CO; Boston, MA; Las Vegas, NV (including appearance at the Vegas Valley Book Festival); New York, NY; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Tacoma, WA Additional promotion/author appearances possible at PNBA and MPIBA regional bookseller shows Reading group guide development and book club outreach Simultaneous eBook publication and promotion Postcards available Early reviewer promotions through Goodreads and LibraryThing Blurbs forthcoming from Geraldine Brooks, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Caryl Phillips Promotion through author's website (www.richardwileyauthor.com) and BLP's social media networks and website (www.blpress.org) Marketing and publicity efforts supported by Molly Mikolowski of A Literary Light

About the Author
Richard Wiley is the author of eight novels including Bob Stevenson (forthcoming from Bellevue Literary Press), Soldiers in Hiding, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and Ahmed's Revenge, winner of the Maria Thomas Fiction Award. Professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he divides his time between Los Angeles, California and Tacoma, Washington.

Reviews
Literary Hub "Great Booksellers Fall Preview" selection "Wiley takes Treasure Island off the dusty shelf of the late 19th century and translates its transgressive pirate allure in daring and illuminating ways for 21st-century readers." --Peace Corps Worldwide "Through a clever use of dissociative identity disorder, [Bob Stevenson] provides an exploration of the workings of the human mind, its pathology, and its machination to make up stories... This novel of identities within identities, selves within selves ends on a note of the unknowns and uncertainties of life. The question of identity and the self prevails as the key matter in the novel, whether based on a figment of a pathological mind or on a membership to a genealogy." --MedHum Fiction | Daily Dose: Adventures at the Intersection of Medicine and Literature "Haunted--in a good way--by the ghost of Robert Louis Stevenson... A romantic comedy with just enough of a philosophical edge." --Kirkus Reviews "Clever... Wiley skillfully balances the psychological explanations for Archie's strange behavior with the more fanciful notion that he has been possessed by Stevenson's spirit, one of those 'metaphysical rovers' seeking out corporeal forms. It's an elegant conceit around which to craft a tale about the ambiguities of character." --Publishers Weekly "A witty, roller-coaster ride of uncertain identity set against the gritty certainties of New York City. In compelling, unadorned prose, Richard Wiley gives us a bewitching and ultimately moving tale." --Caryl Phillips, author of A Distant Shore and The Lost Child



Book Information
ISBN 9781942658160
Author Richard Wiley
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Bellevue Literary Press
Publisher Bellevue Literary Press
Weight(grams) 226g