The Bestiary

Bes-ti-ar-y: n. A book of stories providing descriptions of real or, more often, imaginary animals.

Young Xeno Atlas's grandmother can communicate with animals. In their dark Bronx tenement-far out of sight of Xeno's mysterious seaman father-they spend their days together, talking about the supernatural creatures that visit her dreams. When she passes away, Xeno sees a fox in her bed, leaping gracefully onto the fire escape and disappearing into the New York City night.

And thus, in THE BESTIARY, novelist Nicholas Christopher sets the stage for the magical, captivating, and page-turning story of a young man's quest for a mythical book that holds the answer to life's great questions. Called the Caravan Bestiary, this medieval text that describes the animals not granted passage on Noah's Ark has been missing for eight hundred years. But upon learning of the book at boarding school, Xeno becomes obsessed with finding it, hoping to succeed where great scholars have failed.

For years he is thrown off the trail by the events of his life: first his studies at Harvard, then service in the Vietnam War. But when Xeno reconnects with his childhood friends Bruno and Lena, their devotion to his quest pushes him forward. Traveling to Hawaii, Greece, Africa, and Italy, Xeno pursues the book anew, along the way feeling his long-held love for Lena deepen, distancing himself from his failing relationship with his father, and coming to grips with the fact that his beliefs about right and wrong, faith and reason, are shifting beneath his feet.

A story of panoramic scope and intellectual intrigue, THE BESTIARY is an epic tale that delves into history, fantasy, nature, and religion to tell the story of one man's literal and figurative journey.

Buy it Now at Barnes & Noble