Literary star Marisha Pessl, who grew up in Asheville, out with new book, ‘Night Film’

Marisha Pessl, who set the literary world on fire seven years ago with her first novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, has finally released her next book. It’s called Night Film. The new book is backed by an interesting marketing push. From CBS.com:

Pessl created a promotional trailer — part of the intricate mythology the author dreamed up around her central character, the elusive director

The 35-year-old author also shot four short films for the internet meant to build the mystery around the book.

“No one’s seen him in 35 years. He’s responsible for some of the most terrifying films ever made,” she explained.

Pessl even had posters made for all of them, including “A Crack in the Window”, “At Night Birds are all Black” and “Thumbscrew”.

“So I was very much interested in absence and the idea of a man versus a myth,” she explained.

NPR has an exclusive “first read” with Pessl and Night Film. From NPR:

Marisha Pessl’s dark, cinematic and wildly over-the-top new novel, Night Film, starts with a mysterious death: Ashley Cordova, troubled former child prodigy and daughter of mysterious filmmaker Stanislas Cordova, is found dead at the bottom of a disused elevator shaft, an apparent suicide. Disgraced investigative journalist Scott McGrath thinks there’s more to the case. He’s tangled with Cordova before and come out on the losing end, but — almost against his will — he’s about to get drawn back into the filmmaker’s strange orbit. In this excerpt, McGrath is at a Manhattan cocktail party when he gets the news of Ashley Cordova’s death. Night Film will be published Aug. 20.

Image link for Marisha Pessl.

Thanks to loyal reader Jen for the heads-up on this.