Graduate student and writer debuts first novel

The back of the novel describes it as "A Nabokovian goof on Agatha Christie; a madcap mystery in the deceptive tradition of 'The Crying of Lot 49;' The Third Policeman meets 'The Da Vinci Code.'" Confused yet? Then you're right on track. \n"Icelander" is IU graduate student Dustin Long's debut novel, a story with an abundance of ambiguity and imagination.\n"Icelander" tells the story of Our Heroine, daughter of the legendary crime-solver Emily Bean. When her best friend is found murdered, everyone expects Our Heroine to follow in her mother's footsteps and discover the guilty party. Unfortunately, Our Heroine is less than thrilled to perpetuate the family trade. But adventure, mystery and intrigue wait for no woman, and thus the novel begins. \n"It's not like other books," Long said. "It has this elaborate frame story; 'The book you're about to read was found among the papers of this dead author.' So it's odd, which is probably a good way of describing it."\nEli Horowitz, Long's editor at McSweeny's Books, said the back story is one of his favorite aspects of the novel. \n"I love that Dustin has created this world that is steady," Horowitz said, "but it also has all these strange things going on that don't even get discussed directly, they just become the context of the novel. He tells you enough so that you can have a sense of what's going on, but he leaves enough unexplained so it feels like it has a real authority." \n"If you were writing a book about reality and you said, 'Then we went to England,' you wouldn't say 'England is a small island located ...' People just know it," Horowitz said. "But if you make something up and also treat it that way, it gives it a kind of authority and believability, which is how the underground kingdom of Vanaheim is treated in 'Icelander.' It is presented as something everybody just knows. But he handles that in a very delicate, smart way. Ridiculous, also."\nOne of the draws of the novel's complexity is that it can easily be read multiple times, Long said.\n"You could just read it on one level — for the plot — and enjoy it and then maybe read it again and say, 'Oh, here's all this stuff I didn't get before,'" Long said. "I wanted to write a book that people could read twice and not get bored. It's something I always appreciate when I read."\nChantal Clarke, Long's wife and a graduate student in the IU folklore department, agrees with Long. \n"I really enjoy the puzzle element of it. I know I wouldn't get everything in the book if he hadn't spent the last year explaining it to me. There's even stuff that he hasn't definitively resolved, which I think makes the book so interesting and fun," Clarke said. \nWhile Long has displayed his creative strength in "Icelander," expect more imaginative works in the future. \n"I am currently working on a new novel," Long explained. "It's very different than 'Icelander,' which is an adventure-mystery-something set in 2001. The novel I'm working on now is about a Jesuit priest in 17th - century China, but it's another goofy comedy as well. It's a lot of fun." \nLong's courses at IU are aimed at making him a better, more informed writer. \nHe said, "I'm currently taking Chinese here at IU so I can read sources as I research this new novel," Long says, "Each time I approach a new novel it's a new experience and a fun exploration of what I can do with it." \n"Icelander" is published by McSweeney's Books and available at most bookstores in Bloomington.