I Am Jonathan Scrivener

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James Wrexham, a thoughtful and solitary thirty-nine-year-old, works in a gloomy law firm when he accepts an offer that could change his life: to become the secretary of Mr. Jonathan Scrivener. Hired without ever meeting his employer, Wrexham finds himself alone in Scrivener's apartment, receiving vague instructions through a lawyer, and gradually begins to suspect he is the subject of a sinister experiment. The bizarre series of guests with free access to the house—a young woman of ethereal beauty, a playboy, a cynical alcoholic, a widow who may have killed her husband—certainly does not clarify matters for him. All these restless spirits have stories to tell about Jonathan Scrivener, but their accounts do not align, and the absent host appears at different times as a degenerate, a charming adventurer, a misanthrope, a failed actor, or a genius artist. Who is the man behind this multifaceted personality? What does he truly want from his increasingly perplexed secretary? Published in 1930, this psychological thriller with metaphysical shades retains the eccentric brilliance of its dialogues and the elegance of its original narrative mosaic, compelling the reader to question the elusive nature of human identity.