I was an English major. I have studied more books than I can remember and I read more than anyone I know. I have read so much that it is getting harder to be surprised by books because I normally know what comes next. It is easy to spot books that are derivative (read: profitable) and it is even easier to know which books will have sequels. All of this makes it that much nicer to say that Andrew Davidson's book The Gargoyle might be the most surprising book I have ever read in my life.

I'm going to give the basic outline of the plot, but the plot is not what mattered to me in The Gargoyle. This book is about what it feels like to read the book. The mood that you are in while the book is open. Seriously, you'll just have to take my word for it in this review. It sounds corny but this is a book that needs to be experienced, not just read.

But book reviews should contain some mention of the story, so here is my plot summary:

A man, who was a former actor in films of an unsavory nature is badly burned in a car accident. He loses most of his skin, most of his will to live, and his former career is obviously a goner.

While he is in recovery he meets a woman who is compelled to sculpt gargoyles. He goes home with her and their relationship evolves during his convalescence and her increasingly manic need to sculpt. If this sounds off the wall, you don't know the half of it.

Interspersed with their story are historic tales of an Icelandic warrior, a journey into the hell of Dante's inferno, and more. In each historic retelling it becomes clear that the suggestion is that the two protagonists of The Gargoyle have known each other for centuries, in many different places and times.

Reviews of books this good do a sort of injustice to the work itself, but if I say more I'll be both spoiling the book for you, and also trying to describe something that is as close to indescribable as anything I've read.

I hope you read The Gargoyle. It was one of the nicest surprises I've ever had.