Confidence - by Rafael Frumkin (Paperback)

About the Book

"At seventeen, Ezra Green doesn't have a lot going for him: he's shorter than average, snaggle-toothed, internet-addicted, and halfway to being legally blind. He's also on his way to Last Chance Camp, the final stop before juvie. But Ezra's summer at Last Chance turns life-changing when he meets Orson, brilliant and Adonis-like with a mind for hustling. Together, the two embark upon what promises to be a fruitful career of scam artistry. But when they try to pull off their biggest scam yet - Nulife, a corporation that promises its consumers a lifetime of bliss - things start to spin wildly out of control"--

Book Synopsis

"Theranos but make it gay." --Electric Literature

Best friends (and occasional lovers) Ezra and Orson are teetering on top of the world after founding a company that promises instant enlightenment in this "propulsive, cheeky, eat-the-rich page-turner" (The Washington Post) about scams, schemes, and the absurdity of the American Dream.

At seventeen, Ezra Green doesn't have a lot going on for him: he's shorter than average, snaggle-toothed, internet-addicted, and halfway to being legally blind. He's also on his way to Last Chance Camp, the final stop before juvie.

But Ezra's summer at Last Chance turns life-changing when he meets Orson, brilliant and Adonis-like with a mind for hustling. Together, the two embark upon what promises to be a fruitful career of scam artistry. But things start to spin wildly out of control when they try to pull off their biggest scam yet--Nulife, a corporation that promises its consumers a lifetime of bliss.

"Propulsive" (The New York Times Book Review) and "laugh-out-loud funny" (BuzzFeed), with the suspense of The Talented Mr. Ripley, the decadence of The Great Gatsby, and the wit of Succession, Confidence is a story for anyone who knows that the American Dream is just another pyramid scheme.

Review Quotes

One of the Washington Post's 50 Best Works of Fiction of 2023 - A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick - One of them's best books of 2023 - One of CrimeReads' Best Crime Novels of 2023

"Two boys meet at a camp for troubled kids who need to turn their lives around--it's not the slammer, but it's the last stop before it--and they start a scheme that indeed changes everything. Is it love? Is it lust? It's a good time, that's for sure." -People

"Theranos but make it gay. In this Ripley-esque romp, two men--occasional lovers--create a fake empire based entirely on their own charisma and an impossibly auspicious wellness product that promises bliss to those who use it."--Electric Literature

"Frumkin follows up his critically acclaimed debut The Comedown with Confidence, a biting satire about a pair of friends who start a company that promises consumers instant enlightenment for the rest of their lives.... Over the course of the novel, as their hustles become increasingly complex, they veer closer and closer to a massive collapse from which they may never recover."--New York Magazine's Vulture

About the Author

Rafael Frumkin is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Medill School of Journalism. His first novel, The Comedown, was published by Henry Holt in 2018 to critical acclaim. His Collection, Bugsy & Other Stories, is forthcoming. He lives with his partner, two cats, and one dog in Carbondale, Illinois, where he is an assistant professor of creative writing at Southern Illinois University.