Our Endless Numbered Days tells the story of eight-year-old Peggy and her survivalist father, James, who inexplicably leave behind their London home and start a new life in an isolated cabin in the woods. Both stylistically rendered and deliberately paced, this book is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the ability [...]
If I could write like anyone in the world I think I would maybe like to write like David Vann. Each word in a sentence feels like it’s been weighed and measured to such precision, it’s as if they could be set in stone; at the end of what seems to be every paragraph there is a moment of epiphany that makes you stop and think ‘Amazing! How did he manage to get to that?’ There are moments of such pure and emotional power that I had a genuine physical reaction: at one point I read fully three pages with my mouth open in shock. I’ll guess you haven’t heard of him, not because I’m very cool or anything but because up until late November last year I hadn’t either, and we don’t publish his debut book of fiction, Legend of a Suicide, in this country until October this year.
Let’s be honest with each other: I’m a publicist and you probably don’t trust me. My job is to cajole, nag, bully and create – here’s an ugly word – hype for things I want you to buy. Distrust can be good, though, as it can help to create healthy scepticism. The best journalists are healthy sceptics, who insist on making their own mind up about something. The best I can do is try to get them to take a chance on even taking the time to make their mind up, rather than just dismissing something out of hand. The best way to do that is through – here’s a nice word – enthusiasm. Doesn’t everyone love enthusiasm? Well, maybe
not all the time. Let’s be realistic. But in my job it’s very helpful and, with David Vann and this book, I am 100% ain’t nuthin’ but the truth enthusiasm, hence this very early shout out.
The book is comprised of five stories that book-end a novella, all inter-connected and with a clear progression. The more I’ve thought about this, the more I’ve realised it’s a different way of writing a novel.
The more I’ve thought about this, the more I’ve realised what a shatteringly good work it is. A colleague here said that when he finished it he went downstairs to his flatmate and, completely unbidden, told him step by step every detail in the book; it was so vivid to him it felt as if he’d lived it. Another texted me with a completely unquotable but extremely visceral reaction to a particular moment in the book. While this may tell you more about my homelife than you need to know, I’ve found myself having to read out sections of the book to my girlfriend, while she tries to get on with doing, you know, actual stuff, because I’ve been so struck by their clarity and brilliance. And it’s not as if she’s going to have to pay for a copy. I’m sure I could even stump up for one for her parents. If it’s Christmas or a birthday. Maybe.
The book was published late last year, only in the States, by the small but venerable University of Massachusetts Press, and we’re hoping that, on this side of the Atlantic, it will be loved by people in the same way that the
New York Times or the
San Francisco Chronicle loved it. If you like American fiction, if you like Tobias Wolff, Richard Ford, Anne Tyler, Cormac McCarthy, if you like stupendous writing from anywhere then you have to read this book. I’m not telling you Next Big Thing So Go Tell Your Kids or Die Trying; I’m just saying that if you like great books I think you will love this. It’s wonderful, it’s moving, it’s literature. It’s Legend of a Suicide by David Vann, and it’s a little way off at the moment, but it’s well worth the wait.
And, because it’s the 21st century, if you’d like to hear more about this book as it gets closer to publication, then ping me
@joethepublicist on twitter. I don’t know what I’m doing on there yet but I could maybe update you and stuff like that.
Joe the Publicist
.............................................................................
Remember that by posting a comment you are agreeing to the website
Terms of Use. If you consider any content on this site to be inappropriate, please report it to Penguin Books by emailing
[email protected]
..............................................................................
By: Shawn Donley,
on 3/10/2015
By: Venetia Butterfield,
on 2/20/2009
