Problems of Translation

or Charlie's Comic, Terrifying, Romantic, Loopy Round-the-World Journey in Search of Linguistic Happiness

Fiction & Literature, Humorous, Literary

• Author: Jim Story
• ISBN: 9780986238215
• Publisher: Blue Mile Books
• Publication: April 21, 2015
• Language: English

"A comic masterpiece" "a merry, yearlong chase around the globe" "poignant" "zany and surprisingly philosophical" "pretty much perfectly done" and a Shelf Unbound 2015 Notable Book

Charles Abel Baker--short story writer and a "most unlikely middle-aged hero"--sets off around the world on a quest to see one of his stories translated into ten different languages and back again into English, a sort of literary version of the old party game "telephone." Who knew that literary translation could be so perilous? So romantic? So downright funny?

A cloak-and-dagger adventure, a love story, and a great read, Problems of Translation is as stimulating as it is entertaining. 

"An insanely amusing adventure that has a deep love of language at its belly-shaking core."
—GaryShteyngart, author of Little Failure and A Super Sad True Love Story

"...a merry, yearlong chase around the globe"—Kirkus Reviews

"...a zany and surprisingly philosophical adventure....One part midlife crisis, one part old-timey spy film, and one part romance, ...a multilayered story that readers—particularly those who love book related humor—will enjoy."—Portland Review

"Jim Story's name says it all: he was meant to be a writer...I hope everyone reads this book!"
—Hannah Tinti, author of The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley;  editor-in-chief of One Story

"In this comic masterpiece...we take a wild ride...through the underside of the literary world...as [Charlie] stumbles and careens into all kinds of trouble in an obsessive pursuit of his Dream."
—Robert Roth, author of Health Proxy; editor, co-creator of And Then