In this seriocomic noir by a "master magician of the contemporary French novel" (The Washington Post), a low-grade film director is embroiled in troubles involving a rampaging elephant, an African militia, and the mystery of a naked man falling from a window to his death.

A naked man plummets from a sixth-story window, nearly flattening Robert Bristol. But Bristol, semi-famous director of B-grade adventure flicks, hardly notices: he's thinking about his next film. Armed with a ragtag crew, a narcissistic star, and a limited budget, he heads to Africa to shoot some key scenes, where he winds up dealing with a local band of vigilantes and its opportunistic commander, a rampaging elephant, and extras who constantly threaten to go on strike. To make matters worse, once back in Paris he finds himself implicated in the falling man's death, which the police are now viewing as a homicide-and that's only the beginning of his troubles.

With Bristol, Jean Echenoz, "the most distinctive voice of his generation and the master magician of the contemporary French novel" (The Washington Post), delivers a seriocomic noir packed with wry humor and exhilarating twists and turns, a "funny, elegant, and cinematographic fantasy" (Sud Ouest) by a consummate writer at the top of his game.

Jean Echenoz was born in 1947 in Vaucluse, France. He is the author of more than a dozen novels, including Cherokee, Double Jeopardy, Chopin's Move, Big Blondes, I'm Gone (winner of the Prix Goncourt), Piano, Ravel, Running, Lightning, Special Envoy, and Command Performance (NYRB Classics). His work has received a great number of literary prizes, among them the Prix Goncourt, the Prix Médicis, and the European Literature Jeopardy Prize. He lives in Paris.

Mark Polizzotti has translated over sixty books from the French, including Arthur Rimbaud's The Drunken Boat: Selected Writings (NYRB Poets), and is the author of thirteen books, including Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton, Sympathy for the Traitor: A Translation Manifesto, Why Surrealism Matters, and Jump Cuts: Essays on Surrealism, Film, Music, Culture, and Other Utopian Topics. He lives in New York.