Somebody Else's Life

Stephen Cooper, a middle-aged university professor who is suddenly utterly bored by his life, plots an intricate scheme with his lover. They arrange a spectacular forgery of a disappeared art relic, and in order to sell it, also craft new identities for themselves: together they become somebody else. "We move inside Cooper's chilly satisfaction as he and his lover-accomplice bring off one trick after another in the identity switching necessary to their scam. . . . And...
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Stephen Cooper, a middle-aged university professor who is suddenly utterly bored by his life, plots an intricate scheme with his lover. They arrange a spectacular forgery of a disappeared art relic, and in order to sell it, also craft new identities for themselves: together they become somebody else.

"We move inside Cooper's chilly satisfaction as he and his lover-accomplice bring off one trick after another in the identity switching necessary to their scam. . . . And we're also brought close to the pain and rage . . . of the women whom Cooper (incorrigible to the end) deceives."--Benjamin DeMott, New York Times Book Review

"An authentic and ingenious account of the ingeniously counterfeit in art and in life."--D. J. Enright

"This offbeat romp intrigues with its ironic probing of life values at the same time that it provides lively entertainment."--Kirkus Reviews

"An extended and absorbing mediation on the loss of integrity."--Chicago Sun-Times

"Witty, sophisticated and intriguing, this tale of a forger is the genuine article: an example of the art of suspense and the suspense of art."--Jack Fuller

"An entertainingly mordant psychological thriller."--Washington Times Magazine