"The story stretches back 2 million years to show the tortoise's earliest relative, and goes forward into the future to look at his last. This is a quiet but explosive book, full of emotion and erotic desire. I don't want to ruin the plot, which keeps unfolding like a sprawling puzzle, but every detail is a clue: the seersucker suit, the car, the distant lake, the night. The book is an argument for how much meaning each distinct moment can contain." --The Atlantic "A wildly ambitious novel of lyrical beauty." --The Paris Review "A little novel of profound wonder." --Southwest Review "Powerful, moving, heartbreaking. The prose is fantastic, but the heart is what drives this hundred-or-so-page novella.

" --Independent Book Review Previous Praise for Michael Bible "Bible is spot on as he illuminates the patterns of calamity, how they radiate outward." --New York Times "He's so open, so easy, so fluid, you'll smile with joy turning every page." --Barry Hannah, PEN/Malamud Award-winning author of Airships "The Ancient Hours is brilliant." --Bud Smith, author of Teenager "Bible is a fantastic writer." --Kevin Wilson, New York Times-bestselling author of Nothing to See Here "If Sophia is any indication, we have a promising new writer here, who, like his main character, might be on a pilgrimage of his own." --NPR "One of the most interesting and exciting new novelists in years" --Electric Literature "Most contemporary fiction makes me wonder why people try to write anymore. Michael Bible helps me remember why." --Blake Butler, author of Molly "Michael Bible's Sophia is a real howl of a book.

" --Scott McClanahan, author of The Sarah Book.