The Optimists

Clem Glass was a successful photojournalist, firm in the belief that photographs could capture truth and beauty. Until he went to Africa and witnessed the aftermath of a genocidal massacre.
Clem returns to London with his faith in human nature shattered and his life derailed. Nothing-work, love, sex-can rouse his interest and no other outlook can restore his faith. The one person Clem is able to connect with is his sister, who has made her own sudden retreat from reality into the shadows of mental illness, and he finds some peace nursing her back to health in rural Somerset. Then news arrives that offers him the chance to confront the source of his nightmares.

In The Optimists, Miller explores the perilously thin line between self-delusion and optimism.


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PRAISE FOR OXYGEN

"A writer of verve and talent . . . [Miller's] prose is fluent, lucid and radiant."-THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"Curious, compelling, and disturbing . . .The reader is aware of being in the presence of a luminous intelligence, allied to literary skill of rare excellence."-THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD