Spotlight on… The Zero and The One by Ryan Ruby

The Zero and The One by Ryan Ruby was recently published on 15th March by Legend Press.

Today I’m here to give you a little taste of what to expect when you dive into the novel!

Synopsis:

A bookish scholarship student, Owen Whiting has high hopes of Oxford, only to find himself immediately out of place. Then he meets Zachary Foedern from New York. Rich and charismatic, Zach takes Owen under his wing, introducing him to a world Owen has only ever read about.

From Oxford to the seedy underbelly of Berlin, they dare each other to transgress the boundaries of convention and morality, until Zach proposes the greatest transgression of all: a suicide pact. But when Zach’s plans go horribly awry, Owen is left to pick up the pieces and navigate the boundaries between illusion and reality to preserve a hold on his once bright future.

‘The over-the-top intensity and sheer depravity of this deliciously gothic debut register quite an impact. An undeniably propulsive read.’ – Publishers Weekly

‘A compulsively readable page-turner that is actually, unapologetically, smart.’ – Los Angeles Review of Books

… interested? Read an extract here!

The Zero and the One – Extract

About the author

Ryan Ruby was born in Los Angeles in 1983. He has written for The Baffler, Conjunctions, Lapham’s Quarterly, n+1, and the Paris Review Daily among other publications, and has translated two novellas from the French for Readux Books. He lives in Berlin.