Book of Hats Kindle Edition

"Book of Hats, is an entrancing, funny, heartbreaking, frightening, beautifully written novel!...This is a must read for anyone who has ever felt different, and especially for those who never have." —Eric Houston, author of The Lost Artist Hats and fashion. Ida Velikowsky's family has been in the business since biblical times—for so long, they've created their own holy book. Centuries of lore carried from continent to continent. An ancient home and a springboard for new beginnings. When Ida studies the book with her father, its magic draws all her worries away. But being a transmasculine kid in a small town in the 1930s puts pressure on Ida, a crushing weight, and she feels responsible as her parents withdraw into themselves and into a room so dark and mysterious, it's a distant galaxy, a void. When home life becomes unbearable, Ida escapes to New York where she finds a community of people who accept her as she is. And yet, she often feels a stranger to herself. Her struggles with intimacy will not vanish no matter who she meets or where she travels. Things take a turn for the surreal after the phone rings late one night in the middle of a dream of hats. Ida dissolves at the sound of her long-lost brother’s voice and emerges wondering if she should agree to take part in a dubious reunion. In Book of Hats, Zeller, author of The Right Thing to Do at the Time, explores relationships between trauma, storytelling, and queer identity while musing along the boundaries of novelistic form. His second novel is a new addition to innovative lgbtqia fiction by writers such as Andrea Lawlor and Carmen Maria Machado and it falls into the wonderful tradition of Jewish existential comedy that includes contemporary writers Nicole Krauss and Michael Chabon. Read more