Why read The Lost Books of the Odyssey?

Book cover of The Lost Books of the Odyssey

Book description

After ten years' journeying Odysseus returns, again and again, to Ithaca. Each time he finds something different: his patient wife Penelope has betrayed him and married; his arrival accelerates time and he watches his family age and die in front of him; he walks into an empty house in ruins;…

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Literary fiction

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Lost Books of the Odyssey as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Gary Blackwood

Author

I was very familiar with Homer's The Odyssey, but this was a whole new take on it. It consists of short tales that are spinoffs or what-might-have-been variations. Clever, beautifully written, moving.

From Gary's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Jonathan S. Burgess

Author

I was astonished that Mason invented forty-four short versions of Odysseus’ story, under the clever pretense that these were found on an ancient manuscript.

Since I like sci-fi and supernatural books, I thoroughly enjoyed the creative and original nature of these stories. Besides being fun, they also made me re-think the original Homeric tale that this work sort of puts into a blender.

From Jonathan's list on The most fascinating modern books that retell the story of Odysseus, the traveling hero.