Mitko (Miami University Press Fiction)

In a series of advances and reconsiderations, through a mere 86 pages, Greenwell delivers a text that is both philosophically ambitious and psychologically stunning. "I had to speak with a kind of bareness," the protagonist says of a conversation he had with Mitko, words that could stand in for the author as well, it seems. In this story of obsession, desire, falsehood, hunger and love, one feels the push of Greenwell's intellect asking the question, What is really possible between persons? And, more deeply, Is there, perhaps, some condition into which the self can finally be released? Crystalline, daring, courageous and self-emptying, those familiar with Greenwell's poetry won't be surprised to find this inquiry rendered in lyrical, immaculate prose.Mary Rakow, author of The Memory Room, a novel.

Mesmerized by this book. The author understands obsession. The language is not flowery and paints a moody dreamy picture of a strange yet entirely palpable relationship.

I finished "Mitko" in one sitting and absolutely, WHOLEHEARTEDLY recommend it. It is a fantastic commentary on gender and (homo)sexuality in Bulgaria but also, more broadly, on the intricate and oftentimes inexplicable tensions between lust and pride, attachments and aversions, love and resentment, history and memory. Greenwell's style is eerily poetic. Beautiful, daunting!

Mitko is one of the more experimental novellas I’ve read in that it is a highly concentrated work. By this I mean it takes place over a relatively short period of time but slows down time so that the reader experiences the events as rationalized within the narrator’s head. It is essentially a short story stretched out with detailed passages of interiority, but this level of interiority is present even during the interactions between the narrator and Mitko, so that the pacing is consistent throughout. The result is a psychological portrait of a kind of relationship that many people probably find contemptible.Facilitated by prostitution and continued out of obsession, the relationship could easily have been presented in a negative light, but the narrator’s keen perception lets us know how and why he allowed himself to pay a younger man for sex and enter into an ostensibly predatory relationship. During the course of the book, a connection develops between the two men based on mutual friendship, even though that friendship is compromised by the monetary basis of their transaction.We don’t usually get this level of concentrated interiority in fiction, either in short fiction or in novels. The interactions between these characters would usually be given to us at a faster pace and would be communicated primarily through dialogue, a technique noticeably absent in this work. But Greenwell’s approach is powerful and effective because we experience only what the narrator experiences. We never so much as hear Mitko speak in his own voice; everything that happens is filtered through the narrator’s recollection.Because of this secondhand approach, and because the entire story hinges on the narrator’s obsession, Mitko himself has to leap out of the page, and Greenwell spends an appropriate amount of time analyzing his characteristics. Greenwell allows himself room to dwell on his character and the narrator’s interactions with him in a way that a more conventional approach doesn’t. This level of detail and subjectivity is something Greenwell also does very effectively in his descriptions of setting and place.At the end of the novel, the scenic descriptions are beautifully rendered but they are not there just to fill up the screen with visuals. The cold turbulence of the weather reflects the narrator’s feelings and his “remorse” echoes the “dragging” of the surf. The external setting mirrors the interiority of the characters and unifies the work with a sense of powerful atmosphere.

Garth Greenwell is that rare thing--a true original, a writer whose debut is not just promising but is already an accomplished, masterly work of art. It is as simple as that -- in less than 100 pages, Greenwell is able to give us a gorgeous work about solitude desire, culture-clash, various dimensions of self, emotional and spiritual growth. It is a book where prose is not merely a means of communication but a high art; his sentences are orchestrated with much music and though, much gusto and contemplation. Many writers work for decades and publish six or seven books before they are able to produce the sort of sentences that seem to come easily to Greenwell. It is an astonishing debut.

Mitko is an unusual book: a novella about a strange but compelling relationship between an American man and hustler in Sofia, Bulgaria. The two disparate characters are both brought brilliantly to life, and their affair, though doomed and somewhat lurid, is complexly and compassionately rendered. The writing is accomplished and confident, and I look forward to reading many more books by this talented and intelligent author.

Chris collingswotlrth college

This is a beautifully written, deeply moving short book. The characters whose relationship it chronicles are vivid, genuine, compelling, and drawn with great psychological insight. Mitko is an unforgettable read, and I'm eager to see what Garth Greenwell writes next.