A major novel, and a notably audacious one. ?Dwight Garner,The New York Times

When Xan iconoclastic artist, writer, and polarizing shape-shifterfalls dead in her office, her widow, CM, wild with grief and refusing everyones good advice, hurls herself into writing a biography of the woman she deified. Not even CM knows where X was born, and in her quest to find out, she opens a Pandoras box of secrets, betrayals, and destruction. All the while, she immerses herself in the history of the Southern Territory, a fascist theocracy that split from the rest of the country after World War II, and which finally, in the present day, is being forced into an uneasy reunification.

A masterfully constructed literary adventure complete with original images assembled by Xs widow,Biography of Xfollows CM as she traces Xs peripatetic trajectory over decades, from Europe to the ruins of Americas divided territories, and through her collaborations and feuds with everyone from Bowie and Waits to Sontag and Acker. At last, when she finally understands the scope of Xs defining artistic project, CM realizes her wifes deceptions were far crueler than she imagined.

Pulsing with suspense and intellect,Biography of Xis a roaring epic that plumbs the depths of grief, art, and love. In her most ambitious novel yet, Catherine Lacey pushes her craft to its highest level, introducing us to an unforgettable character who, in her tantalizing mystery, shows us the fallibility of the stories we craft for ourselves.