A startlingly original first novel by βthis generationβs answer to Alice Munroβ (The Vancouver Sun)βa bold reimagining of one of historyβs most intriguing relationships: between legendary philosopher Aristotle and his most famous pupil, the young Alexander the Great.
342 BC: Aristotle is reluctant to set aside his own ambitions in order to tutor Alexander, the rebellious son of his boyhood friend Philip of Macedon. But the philosopher soon comes to realize that teaching this charming, surprising, sometimes horrifying teenagerβheir to the Macedonian throne, forced onto the battlefield before his timeβis a necessity amid the ever more sinister intrigues of Philipβs court.
Told in the brilliantly rendered voice of Aristotleβkeenly intelligent, often darkly funnyβThe Golden Mean brings ancient Greece to vivid life via the story of this remarkable friendship between two towering figures, innovator and conqueror, whose views of the world still resonate today.
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