Complete story:  http://www.nysun.com/article/51827 

 

A Thrice-Told Tale of Victorian Hysteria

Fiction

By BENJAMIN LYTAL
April 4, 2007

"And yet when I lay these stories atop each other, no light does pass and no space remains. All my knowledge consumes itself." So notes the eponymous narrator of "Angelica" ( Random House, 331 pages, $25.95), the third novel by Arthur Phillips. His first two, "Prague" (2002) and "The Egyptologist" (2004), demonstrated a fascination with trick narratives similar to that of David Mitchell. "The Egyptologist," a tale of archaeological fabrication, was compared to Vladimir Nabokov's "Pale Fire," consisting of a prime document within a frame that casts doubts on its authenticity. And Mr. Phillips's first book, the best seller " Prague," imagined American expatriates playing a bluffing game, in which their stories — some true, most false — constitute the meat of the novel.

 

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