Metamorphica: Fiction

The New York Times–bestselling author “shows us that [The Lost Books of the Odyssey] was a warm-up for an even more ambitious reimagining of an epic work” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

A brilliant and daring novel that reimagines Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

In the tradition of his bestselling debut novel The Lost Books of the Odyssey, Zachary Mason’s Metamorphica transforms Ovid’s epic poem of endless transformation. It reimagines the stories of Narcissus, Pygmalion and Galatea, Midas and Atalanta, and strings them together like the stars in constellations—even Ovid becomes a story. It’s as though the ancient mythologies had been rewritten by Borges or Calvino; Metamorphica is an archipelago in which to linger for a while; it reflects a little light from the morning of the world.

“Metamorphica is a joy of a book. Mason understands beautifully that traditions are most powerful in their reinvention. Beyond their tremendous lyricism and admirable control, these retellings of Mediterranean myth offer the truest pleasure of all fiction, its immense possibility. Metamorphica brims with imagination and an astonishing empathy that reminds us that even the most ancient of legends can feel urgent to us today, if only we would just listen.” ―Kanishk Tharoor, author of Swimmer Among the Stars

“Lush and very smart . . . the stories . . . throb with tragedy, transformation, and wars.” ―JR Ramakrishnan, Electric Literature

“[An] impressive collection of flash fictions that accentuate the pain, frustrations, and regrets of well-known and unfamiliar myths.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Narcissus, Pygmalion and Galatea, Midas and Atalanta, even Ovid himself are all seen in a bright new light.” —Library Journal

© 2024 Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Ebook): 9780374709839

Release date

Ebook: 4 June 2024