Book description
Leonard Schiller is a writer in his seventies. All of his books are out of print; he's left no mark in literary history; a lifetime of dedicated labor has brought him few rewards. Heather Wolfe is a graduate student in her twenties. She read Schiller's novels when she was growing…
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
1 author picked Starting Out in the Evening as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
In this beautifully subtle, thrilling, and finely drawn novel, Brian Morton captures a certain kind of relationship better than anyone else: an old and nearly forgotten male novelist named Leonard Schiller becomes infatuated with Heather Wolfe, the young, female graduate student who is writing her thesis about his work.
This is a novel about fame, intellectual companionship, and ambition, and Morton handles these themes with compassion, insight, and masterful control. I love this novel as much for its startling truths about human nature as for the brilliance of the writing itself.
From Kate's list on Kate Christensen's favorite books about writers being writers.
If you love Starting Out in the Evening...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Want books like Starting Out in the Evening?
Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Starting Out in the Evening.
Share your top 3 reads of 2026!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
186
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Starting Out in the Evening, you might also like...
Child of Vanris
At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, he’s lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, a…
Almost Home
Almost Home is a fictional retelling of the last great tragedy of the Civil War.
In late April 1865, almost 2,000 newly freed Union prisoners of war are packed onto the steamer Sultana, in poor repair and with a listed capacity of 376 passengers. Among them are four Indiana soldiers…
