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A piercing epistolary novel, The Antagonist explores, with wit and compassion, how the impressions of others shape, pervert, and flummox both our perceptions of ourselves and our very nature. Gordon Rankin Jr., aka Rank, thinks of himself as King Midas in reverseand indeed misfortune seems to follow him at every turn. Against his will and his nature, he has long been consideredgiven his enormous size and strengtha goon and enforcer by his classmates, by his hockey coaches, and, not least, by his tiny, angry father. He gamely lives up to their expectations, until a vicious twist of fate forces him to flee underground. Now pushing forty, he discovers that an old, trusted friend from his college days has published a novel that borrows freely from the traumatic events of Ranks own life.