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With a Zero at its Heart Paperback – 22 May 2014

by Charles Lambert (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars 29 ratings
on any 2 Qualifying items | Terms
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Purchase options and add-ons

24 themed chapters.

Each with 10 numbered paragraphs.

Each paragraph with precisely 120 words.

The sum of a life.

In his beautiful and haunting new book, Charles Lambert explores the fragmentary nature of memory, how the piecing together of short recollections can reveal a greater narrative. Through chapters tackling elemental themes such as Sex, Death, and Money, Lambert assembles the narrator’s moving life story. Executed with all the grace and finesse of his previous acclaimed work, this is an incredible artistic achievement, breathtaking in its simplicity yet awe-inspiring in its scope.

With cover and text design by the renowned designer Vaughan Oliver, With a Zero at its Heart is as beautiful to look at as it is to read.

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  1. Print length
    150 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    The Friday Project
  4. Publication date
    22 May 2014
  5. Dimensions
    13.5 x 1.3 x 21.6 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0007545517
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0007545513
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From the Publisher

bestselling literary books;bestselling fiction books;literary novels;top fiction books;fiction reads

bestselling literary books;bestselling fiction books;literary novels;top fiction books;fiction reads

bestselling literary books;bestselling fiction books;literary novels;top fiction books;fiction reads

bestselling literary books;bestselling fiction books;literary novels;top fiction books;fiction reads

Product description

Review

'Poetic, tender and funny.' Guardian

‘Nabokov once said that "imagination is a form of memory". This brief, luminous book bears out that idea in arresting snapshots of one man's life. The sentences prove to be every bit as lovely as Vaughan Oliver's cover design.’ Jonathan Lee, author of Joy

‘An unusual and wonderful book.’ Viv Groskop, Red Magazine

‘Each beautifully crafted episode in this exquisite book is coruscating, profound and original. Lambert’s fearless precision and integrity reminded me of Italo Calvino’s work. Dazzling.’ Angela Jackson, author of The Emergence of Judy Taylor

‘A brilliant and heart-breaking novel written with great grace and tenderness. If Frank O’Hara had written fiction, it might have looked like this.’ Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation

‘Compelling and oddly compulsive. Each short paragraph is well expressed and sensitively written and above all feels very honest and clean.’ Culturefly

'A collection of beautiful fragments entwined within an unforgettable novel.' Caroline Smailes, author of The Drowning of Arthur Braxton

'Beautifully crafted life in miniatures. Incredibly original.' A.M. Bakalar, author of Madame Mephisto

'There is cool precision to each discrete paragraph. These, which kaleidoscopically can be read in any order or pattern, form a fascinating portrait of a very specific life.' David Rose, author of Posthumous Stories

About the Author

Charles Lambert was born in 1953 in England, but, apart from brief spells in Ireland, Portugal and London, has lived and worked in Italy since 1976. He is the author of three novels, Little Monsters, Any Human Face and The View from the Tower, as well as a collection of prize-winning stories, The Scent of Cinnamon and Other Stories, and a novella, The Slave House.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Friday Project
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 22 May 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 150 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0007545517
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007545513
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 190 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.5 x 1.3 x 21.6 cm
  • Best Sellers Rank: 1,915,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer reviews:
    3.6 out of 5 stars 29 ratings

About the author

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Charles Lambert

Charles Lambert

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Charles Lambert was born in England in 1953 but has lived in Italy since 1976. His first novel, Little Monsters, a Good Housekeeping selection, was published in 2008, the same year as The Scent of Cinnamon and Other Stories, the title story an O. Henry Prizewinner. Any Human Face, his second novel was described by the Telegraph as 'a slow-burning, beautifully written crime story that brings to life the Rome that tourists don't see - luckily for them.' The View from the Tower, also set in Rome, appeared in 2012, followed in 2014 by With a Zero at its Heart, one of the Guardian's top ten books of that year.

The Children's Home, a dystopian fantasy, took readers by surprise in 2016 and was followed in 2017 by Two Dark Tales and, in 2018, by Prodigal, which explores what we do to one another in the name of love and was shortlisted for the Polari Prize. The Bone Flower, a Gothic ghost story set in Victorian London, appeared in 2022. His latest novel, Birthright, a psychological thriller, was published in April 2023.

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3.6 out of 5 stars
29 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Amanda Jenkinson
    3.0 out of 5 stars Unusual but not totally satisfying
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 December 2014
    I found this book quite puzzling until I researched it and realised what the author was doing. At that point I began to enjoy it more but I never quite forgave it for that fact that I couldn’t get into without that research. It’s a fictionalised memoir (I assume) though how closely it is based on the author’s own life I don’t know. It’s certainly not a conventional narrative, but is a series of fragments, or vignettes, snippets from the author’s life which gradually build up into a more complete portrait. It is divided up into 24 themed chapters – Sex, Death, Money and so on - each with 10 numbered paragraphs each of which has precisely 120 words. A collection of memories, snapshots from a life. I wasn’t totally convinced by this approach. I didn’t feel it was a gimmick for the sake of novelty, though nor did I feel really comfortable with it, finding the disjointed nature of the narrative unsatisfying even though atmospheric and evocative at times. An original and unusual book, definitely worth reading, but not wholly successful.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Wordman Baz
    4.0 out of 5 stars A book full of heart
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 June 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Charles Lambert's latest book communicates not through a single sustained narrative but via twenty four themed sections, each with ten paragraphs, and a short coda. Is it important that all the paragraphs have 120 words? Perhaps it's a simple way of giving equal weight to all the experiences and memories recorded here. Here a life is pulled apart and recreated through a series of vignettes that crystallise experience and emotion in different contexts: Danger, Language, Money ........... The literary device is subservient to the power of the content and serves it well. It is as if each memory, incident or emotion is concentrated and focused, undiluted by being part of a longer continuous narrative. Life is seen in fragments but it is finally a full life, explored and revisited through the power of memory and emotions recalled.

    The format of the book is at first challenging: it's not what we expect from a novel. That is one of its great strengths: it makes us think and respond in different ways, one paragraph juxtaposed with another that may be complementary or move us in a different direction. We make our own links and in our minds the life is built. Each of us may view it, analyse it and summarise it in different ways but the kernel remains the same.

    If you're looking for something a bit different, at first challenging but ultimately deeply rewarding, try this book and give it to your friends. It will move you, intrigue you and offer you a different perspective on narrative text. You will want to know more, but it is all there to be read.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • SecretsofVoodoo
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I’ve read this year
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 August 2020
    Loved this. Beautifully written, poetic and quirky. A very fast read. Captures childhood very well. Clever structure. One of the best books I’ve read this year.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Mrs. Rosemary Ann Surey
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 November 2014
    Verified Purchase
    ideal gift
    One person found this helpful
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  • Liz Bevan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for a different reading experience?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2014
    This is a wonderful book, to be savoured slowly and in small portions - it's a book that can be enjoyed and read on many levels and opens windows onto many aspects of life and experiences. Some may resonate with you, others may feel totally alien but none of them will leave you indifferent. It's a kind of prose haiku, each one perfect in itself but gradually combining to give you a kind of kaleidoscopic collage of a life when you stand back and let them fall into place.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Jody - "A Spoonful of Happy Endings"
    4.0 out of 5 stars Review: 'With a Zero at its Heart' by Charles Lambert
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 July 2014
    ‘With a Zero at its Heart’ is written in the form of a memoir, but with a particular format that’s quite unique. The book consists of 24 chapters, each with its own theme such as fear, money, sex, and death. Each of these chapters focuses on its specific theme and consists of 10 paragraphs of 120 words each. It provides a look into the life of one man, memory by memory, giving the reader glimpses of it and the space to fill in part of the story himself/herself.

    I can honestly say this novel was different from anything else I’ve ever read before. I’d describe the book as a sort of puzzle, consisting of lots of different pieces, each with a different shape and different colours, but together forming a whole. It’s the task of the reader to piece these memories together, and as you read through the book you start connecting certain parts. Each paragraph is like a story on its own and some of them really grabbed me, being the start to its own longer story that slowly developed in my mind, while others I only read once and didn’t make me feel as much.

    It’s quite an intense read. These are intimate memories and some of them are wonderfully written; it’s amazing how certain emotions or situations, ranging from childhood to the teenage years to adulthood, can be described in just 120 words. I would say the book is even slightly poetic at times, and the author really has his own distinctive writing style. I found myself rereading numerous paragraphs, in order to understand and appreciate them better or just to really form the memory in my own mind. ‘With a Zero at its Heart’ is a unique, incredibly intimate and gripping read; a book consisting of puzzle pieces of which several are still floating around in my mind, waiting for me to pick the story up again.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Isabelle Grey
    5.0 out of 5 stars The accumulated details that make us who we are
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 July 2014
    I have much enjoyed Charles Lambert’s emotionally and historically intelligent novels, especially The View From The Tower, and was curious to read his departure into a much more experimental form. Twenty-four themed chapters, each divided into ten numbered paragraphs, each precisely 120 words long. Far from being over-prescriptive, this novel is rich, warm, funny, shocking, wise and above all, human. The form both contains and liberates the otherwise discursive chaos of memory, creating a work of fiction inspired – as all writing is – by autobiography, by who we are, by what makes us who we are. Each perfectly nailed-down detail – of clothes, incidents, animals, emotions, colours – adds up to so much more than the sum of their parts. Just as life does. Just as we do.
    2 people found this helpful
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