The year is 1985, and twenty-two-year-old Galen lives with his emotionally dependent mother in a secluded old house surrounded by a walnut orchard in a suburb of Sacramento. He doesn't know who his father is, his abusive grandfather is dead, and his grandmother, losing her memory, has been shipped off to a nursing home. Galen and his mother survive on the family's trust fund—old money that his aunt, Helen, and seventeen-year-old cousin, Jennifer, are determined to get their hands on. Galen, a New Age believer who considers himself an old soul, yearns for transformation: to free himself from the corporeal, to be as weightless as air, to walk on water. But he's powerless to stop the manic binges that overtake him, leading him to fixate on forbidden desires. A prisoner of his body, he is obsessed with thoughts of the boldly flirtatious Jennifer and dreams of shedding himself of the clinging mother whose fears and needs weigh him down. When the family takes a trip to an old cabin in the Sierras, near South Lake Tahoe, tensions crescendo. Caught in a compromising position, Galen will discover the shocking truth of just how far he will go to attain the transcendence he craves. An exhilarating portrayal of a legacy of violence and madness, Dirt is an entirely feverish read.
In this inspirational memoir, internationally bestselling author David Vann tells the true story of building his own sailing ship and of the disastrous voyage that ensues. As a thirty-year-old tourist in Turkey, David Vann stumbles across the steel frame of a ninety-foot sailboat and decides to fulfill a long-buried dream: he will rebuild the boat. From friends, family, and credit cards, he borrows $150,000 to construct the ship and achieve his ambition. However, when the Turkish builders take shameless advantage of him, eventually charging him over $500,000, Vann finds himself on the edge of financial ruin and decides to start a chartering business. Battling with construction nightmares, spiraling debts and freak storms, Vann begins to wonder if he is merely repeating his fatherâe(tm)s failures at sea, and a career that led to tragedy. At once a page-turning memoir of adventure on the open ocean and a tale of one manâe(tm)s attempt to overcome fate and realise his dream, A Mile Down is an unforgettable story of struggle and redemption by a writer of rare power.
In "Ichthyology," a young boy watches his father spiral from divorce to suicide. The story is told obliquely, often through the boy's observations of his tropical fish, yet also reveals his father's last desperate moves, including quitting dentistry for commercial fishing in the Bering Sea. "Rhoda" goes back to the beginning of the father's second marriage and the boy's fascination with his stepmother, who has one partially closed eye. This eye becomes a metaphor for the adult world the boy can't yet see into, including sexuality and despair, which feel like the key initiating elements of the father's eventual suicide. "A Legend of Good Men" tells the story of the boy's life with his mother after his father's death through the series of men she dates." "In "Sukkwan Island," an extraordinary novella, the father invites the boy homesteading for a year on a remote island in the southeastern Alaskan wilderness. As the situation spins out of control, the son witnesses his father's despair and takes matters into his own hands. In "Ketchikan," the boy is now thirty years old, searching for the origin of ruin. He tracks down Gloria, the woman his father first cheated with, and is left with the sense of "a world held in place, as it turned out, by nothing at all." Set in Fairbanks, where the author's father actually killed himself, "The Higher Blue" provides an epilogue to the collection."--BOOK JACKET.
A “sensual, brutal . . . ambitious, dazzling, disturbing, and memorable” retelling of Jason and the Argonauts seen through the eyes of Medea (Financial Times). International bestselling and multi-prize-winning author David Vann transports readers to the Mediterranean and Black Sea, 3,250 years ago, for “[a] stunning depiction of one of mythology’s most complex characters” (The Australian). It is thirteenth century BC, and the Argo is bound for its epic return journey across the Black Sea from Persia’s Colchis with the valiant Jason, the equally heroic Argonauts, and the treasured symbol of kingship, the Golden Fleece. Aboard as well is Medea, semi-divine priestess, and a believer in power, not gods. Having fled her father, and butchered her brother, she is embarking on a conquest of her own. Rejected for her gender, Medea is hungry for revenge, and to right the egregious fate of being born a woman in a world ruled by men. In Bright Air Black, “David Vann blow[s] away all the elegance and toga-clad politeness . . . around our idea of ancient Greece . . . to reveal the bare bones of the Archaic period in all their bloody, reeking nastiness (The Times, London), and to deliver a bracing alternative to the long-held notions of Medea as monster or sorceress. We witness Medea’s humanity, her Bronze Age roots and position in Greek society, her love affair with Jason, the cataclysmic repercussions of betrayal, and the drive of an impassioned woman—victim, survivor, and ultimately, agent of her own destiny. The most intimate and corporal version of Medea’s story ever told, Bright Air Black “a compelling study of human nature stripped to its most elemental” (The Guardian).
From the award-winning author of Legend of a Suicide: “A kind of modern fairy tale . . . Vann’s novels are striking, uncompromising portraits of American life” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). David Vann’s dazzling debut Legend of a Suicide was reviewed in over a 150 major global publications, won eleven prizes worldwide, was on forty “best books of the year” lists, and established its author as a literary master. Now, in crystalline, chiseled yet graceful prose, Aquarium takes us into the heart of a brave young girl whose longing for love and capacity for forgiveness transforms the damaged people around her . . . Twelve-year-old Caitlin lives alone with her mother—a docker at the local container port—in subsidized housing next to an airport in Seattle. Each day, while she waits to be picked up after school, Caitlin visits the local aquarium to study the fish. Gazing at the creatures within the watery depths, Caitlin accesses a shimmering universe beyond her own. When she befriends an old man at the tanks one day, who seems as enamored by the fish as she, Caitlin cracks open a dark family secret and propels her once-blissful relationship with her mother toward a precipice of terrifying consequence. “A blue-collar parable . . . [The character] looks back on her life as a child looks into a tank, hoping to make sense of the world inside—a theme Vann develops beautifully, creating a mysterious realm of the wintry American city.” —The Guardian
In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.
In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.
In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.
“[An] affecting novel of a man grappling with deep depression…A moving portrait of a family dealing with loss before it happens.”—Kirkus Reviews Middle-aged and deeply depressed, Jim arrives in California from Alaska and surrenders himself to the care of his brother Gary, who intends to watch over him. Swinging unpredictably from manic highs to extreme lows, Jim wanders ghost-like through the remains of his old life, attempting to find meaning in his tattered relationships with family and friends. As sessions with his therapist become increasingly combative and his connections to others seem ever more tenuous, Jim is propelled forward by his thoughts, which have the potential to lead him, despairingly, to his end. From the international bestselling, award-winning author of Aquarium, Halibut on the Moon is a searing exploration of a man held captive by the dark logic of depression and struggling mightily to wrench himself free. In vivid and haunting prose, Vann offers us an aching portrait of a mind in peril, searching desperately for some hope of redemption.
Explore new worlds in this riveting sci-fi novel In David Vann’s searing novel Goat Mountain, an 11-year-old boy at his family’s annual deer hunt is eager to make his first kill. His father discovers a poacher on the land, a 640-acre ranch in Northern California, and shows him to the boy through the scope of his rifle. With this simple gesture, tragedy erupts, shattering lives irrevocably. In prose devastating and beautiful in its precision, David Vann creates a haunting and provocative novel that explores our most primal urges and beliefs, the bonds of blood and religion that define and secure us, and the consequences of our actions—what we owe for what we’ve done. David Vann is the award-winning author of Legend of a Suicide, Caribou Island, A Mile Down, and Last Day on Earth.
In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.
In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.
In brilliant poetic prose Bright Air Black brings us aboard the ship Argo for its epic return journey across the Black Sea from Persia's Colchis - as Medea flees her home and father with Jason, the Argonauts, and the Golden Fleece. Vann's reimagining of this ancient tale offers a thrilling, realist alternative to the long-held notions of Medea as monster or sorceress. We witness with dramatic urgency Medea's humanity, her Bronze Age roots and position in Greek society, her love affair with Jason, and her tragic demise. Atmospheric and spellbinding, Bright Air Black is an indispensable, fresh and provocative take on one of our earliest texts and the most intimate and corporeal version of Medea's story ever told.
“Dazzling…. Vann knows the darkness but he writes from the compassionate light of art. This is an essential book.” —Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain “Exceptional….An unflinching portrait of bad faith and bad dreams.” —Ron Rash, author of Burning Bright Set against the backdrop of Alaska’s unforgiving wilderness, Caribou Island is David Vann’s dark and captivating tale of a marriage pulled apart by rage and regret. With this eagerly anticipated debut novel, a masterful follow-up to his internationally bestselling short fiction anthology, Legend of a Suicide, Vann takes up the mantle of Louise Erdrich, Marilyn Robinson, and Rick Moody, delivering a powerfully wrought, enthrallingly emotional narrative of struggle and isolation.
In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.
On Valentine's Day 2008, Steve Kazmierczak killed five and wounded eighteen at Northern Illinois University, then killed himself. But he was an A student, a Deans' Award winner. How could this happen? CNN could not get the story. The Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and all others came up empty because Steve's friends and professors knew very little. He had reinvented himself in his final five years. But David Vann, investigating for Esquire, went back to Steve's high school and junior high friends, found a life perfectly shaped for mass murder, and gained full access to the entire 1,500 pages of the police files. The result: the most complete portrait we have of any school shooter. But Vann doesn't stop there. He recounts his own history with guns, contemplating a school shooting. This book is terrifying and true, a story you'll never forget.
Gary, driven by 30 years of diverted plans, and Irene, haunted by a tragedy in her past, are trying to rebuild their life together on Caribou Island. Across the water on the mainland, their daughter Rhoda is fantasizing about her wedding day.
Un terrible error durante una jornada de caza cambiará la historia de una familia del norte de California. En el otoño de 1978, en un rancho familiar de Goat Mountain, al norte de California, un niño de once años acompaña a su abuelo, su padre y un amigo en la jornada de caza de ciervos que la familia celebra anualmente. Cada otoño vuelven a este paisaje seco y amarillento salpicado por toda clase de árboles, pero este año será el primero en el que le permitan disparar. Durante la expedición, el padre descubre a un cazador furtivo en los alrededores del rancho y decide mostrárselo a su hijo, invitándole a mirar a través de la mirilla del rifle. De pronto, ese simple gesto dará pie a una verdadera tragedia que obligará a toda la familia a replantearse sus vidas. Con una prosa hermosa y precisa, David Vann ha escrito una novela inquietante y provocativa que explora nuestros más primitivos impulsos y creencias, los lazos de la sangre que nos definen, así como las terribles consecuencias de algunas acciones. La crítica ha dicho... «David Vann es un escritor de verdad a la caza de sus propios temas: la familia como un leviatán cruel, las relaciones paternofiliales como una condena que recae sobre ambas partes, pero que sobre todo obstaculiza la libertad de los herederos, y el medio natural como segunda piel de sus personajes.» Nadal Suau, El Cultural «Como Melville, Faulkner y McCarthy, Vann ya es uno de los grandes escritores norteamericanos.» ABC «Uno de los mejores escritores de su generación.» Le Figaro «Para leer y releer [...]. Vann es un hombre que hay que seguir de cerca.» The Economist «Un grandísimo escritor.» The Irish Sunday Independent
Considerat arreu un dels debuts literaris més impactants de la dècada, Sukkwan Island ha estat un fenomen als Estats Units i a França. Recolzada per la crítica, que s'ha rendit al talent narratiu de David Vann, la novel·la curta que teniu a les mans ens trasllada a una illa salvatge al sud d'Alaska, accessible només en vaixell o hidroavió, plena de muntanyes escarpades i boscos espessos i humits. El clima a l'hivern és duríssim. Aquest és l'escenari que tria en Jim per reconstruir la relació amb el seu fill Roy, de tretze anys, a qui pràcticament ja no coneix. Després d'un seguit de fracassos personals, l'oportunitat de passar dotze mesos en una cabana aïllada, enfrontats a unes condicions complicades, li sembla la millor manera de recuperar el temps perdut. Però la duresa d'aquesta vida i el defalliment d'en Jim, fràgil i depressiu, no triguen a transformar aquest viatge en un malson. Amb una mestria inusual i una tensió dramàtica inigualable, David Vann explora, a Sukkwan Island, el cor de les tenebres de l'ànima humana i construeix una història de suspens i angoixa gairebé insostenibles.
„David Vanns Romane sind elementare Berichte aus dem Innern des Menschseins – faszinierend, gnadenlos und dabei voller Mitleid.“ Christian Brückner Jim ist Ende dreißig und depressiv. Aus Alaska, wo er lebt, fliegt er nach Kalifornien, wo er aufgewachsen ist. Sein jüngerer Bruder Gary holt ihn vom Flughafen ab – er will auf Jim aufpassen und hofft, dass dieser im Kreis der Familie seine Lebensfreude zurückgewinnt. Doch während Jim wie ein Geist durch die Hinterlassenschaften seines alten Lebens wandelt, wird er von seinen Gedanken vorwärtsgetrieben, auf das Ende zu. In seinem schmerzhaften, radikalen Roman – dem ersten bei Hanser Berlin – imaginiert David Vann die letzten Tage im Leben seines Vaters. Er ist zugleich ein eindringliches Zeugnis der Suche nach Sinn und Erlösung in der unermesslichen Natur.
Sur l’invitation de son frère Roy, Tracy quitte la Californie et rejoint l’île de Komodo, en Indonésie. Elle espère passer des vacances paradisiaques : une semaine de plongée en compagnie de requins et de raies manta, loin de son mari distant et leurs jumeaux épuisants. C’est aussi l’occasion de renouer avec Roy, qui mène une vie chaotique depuis son divorce et s’est éloigné de sa famille. Mais la tension monte et Tracy perd pied, submergée par une vague de souvenirs, de rancœurs et de reproches. Dès lors, chaque nouvelle immersion dans un monde sous-marin fascinant l’entraîne de plus en plus près du point de non-retour.
Une île sauvage du Sud de l'Alaska, accessible uniquement par bateau ou par hydravion, tout en forêts humides et montagnes escarpées. C'est dans ce décor que Jim décide d'emmener son fils de treize ans pour y vivre dans une cabane isolée, une année durant. Après une succession d'échecs personnels, il voit là l'occasion de prendre un nouveau départ et de renouer avec ce garçon qu'il connaît si mal. La rigueur de cette vie et les défaillances du père ne tardent pas à transformer ce séjour en cauchemar, et la situation devient vite incontrôlable. Jusqu'au drame violent et imprévisible qui scellera leur destin. Sukkwan Island est une histoire au suspense insoutenable. Avec ce roman qui nous entraîne au coeur des ténèbres de l'âme humaine, David Vann s'installe d'emblée parmi les jeunes auteurs américains de tout premier plan.
Una isla salvaje en el sur de Alaska, a la que solamente puede accederse en barco o hidroavión, repleta de frondosos bosques húmedos y montañas escarpadas. Este será el inhóspito decorado donde Jim decidirá fortalecer las relaciones con su hijo Roy, a quien apenas conoce. Doce meses por delante, viviendo en una cabaña apartada de todo y de todos: parece una buena oportunidad para estrechar lazos y recuperar el tiempo perdido. Pero la situación, poco a poco, deviene clautrofóbica, asfixiante, insostenible. La díficiles condiciones de supervivencia y la olla a presión emocional a la que se ven abocados padre e hijo acaban por conformar una postal de pesadilla.
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