In a literary scene gone dull with novel after novel about young up-scale New Yorkers with drug/sex/alcohol/attitude problems, leave it to the old master of the American avant-garde, two-time National Book Award-nominee Stephen Dixon, to write the most innovative, absorbing, and moving book of the season, OLD FRIENDS. It starts with a chance meeting –- the wife of one shifty writer, in an effort to get him out of the house a little more, introduces him to another shifty writer whose wife would like to see him leave the house every now and then, too. Dixon then presents a stunning tour-de-force, tracing their friendship from its stumbling beginning –- visiting at each other's houses, of course –- through its sometimes hysterical, sometimes heart-wrenching lifetime . . . until the very end. It's a virtuoso work, with the masterful Dixon at the height of his skills, mixing trenchant humor with blunt observation. But this book also shows off –- perhaps better than any of his previous books –- how Dixon manages to be both innovative and accessible at once, writing in clear prose that nonetheless seems to be etched in his own unique language. The end result is an absolutely beautiful work of art -- a moving homage to the writing life, to friendship and love -- that's certain to be recognized as one of the celebrated author's very best books, and bound to win him a whole new generation of readers.