Synopses & Reviews
"In the center of the county in the center of Indiana in the heart of the country, and down a long, dark hallway," Noah Summers, a simple man who has led a far from simple life, sits before a roaring fire, drifting in and out of sleep. On this dark and lovely winter night, he will sift through the shards of his memories, trying to make sense of a lifetime of psychic visions and his family’s tumultuous history on an Indiana farmstead.
As a young man, Noah, a true innocent, fell deeply in love with Opal, a young woman with a penchant for flames. Once married, the couple move into their own house on his family’s farm. After forty-two idyllic days, Opal is overcome by her fascination with fire and institutionalized. Though Noah embarks on a journey to save her, he cannot, and must instead rely on her letters, his memories, and the strength of his family to sustain him.
Written in a masterful elegiac style that echoes Faulkner and Steinbeck, Indiana, Indiana is a compellingly beautiful and surreal Midwestern saga firmly grounded in an Indiana landscape populated by farmers, drifters, sheriffs, and ministers, and overflowing with musical saws, family bibles stuffed with flowers, and appliances rusting in the fields.
"As everyone who read The Impossibly knows, Laird Hunt’s ability to create a sense of otherworldliness is astonishing. Indiana, Indiana resonates for miles."—Amy Fusselman, author of The Pharmacist’s Mat
Laird Hunt, former United Nations press officer and -current faculty member at Naropa University, has lived in Singapore, Tokyo, London, Paris, The Hague, and on a farm in Indiana. He is the author of the novel The Impossibly, and his writing has appeared both here and abroad in many publications, including Grand Street, Fence, Conjunctions, Ploughshares, and Zoum Zoum. He and his wife, poet Eleni Sikelianos, live in Boulder, Colorado.
Review
"Given that what Greil Marcus called 'the old, weird America' has been endlessly worked up, many of the intended quirks here feel deeply familiar, but Hunt's passion for imagining its stubborn remnants comes through clearly." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Written in lyrical if sometimes baffling prose, the novel succeeds at calling up the ghosts of a generation and a way of life that have almost disappeared. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"At first glance, this seems tobe the worst possible knockoff of 20th-Century Lit 101, but Hunt manages to infuse enough life into these old modernist bones that by the end they dance like a Halloween skeleton." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Like the best American writers, Laird Hunt is recasting the American song, lyrically and philosophically. His novels are smart and refreshing and genuinely unusual. He's a seeker, in the best literary sense. He's looking for and finding vivid language and forms, ways to write what he sees and understands about his and our weird, fortunate, and troubled lives and times." Lynne Tillman, author of This is Not It
Synopsis
Haunted by a lifetime of psychic visions, Noah tries to make sense of an eerie landscape animated by ventriloquists, musical saws, ghostly appliances, and an ill-fated journey to rescue his pyromaniac wife from the clutches of insanity. Delivered in a masterful elegiac style, Indiana, Indiana is a multigenerational saga recast through the memories of Noah Summers, a simple man who has led an extraordinary life.
Synopsis
"In the center of the county in the center of Indiana in the heart of the country, and down a long, dark hallway," Noah Summers, a simple man who has led a far from simple life, sits before a flickering fire, drifting in and out of sleep. On this dark and lovely winter night, he will sift through the shards of his memories trying to make sense of a lifetime of psychic visions and his family's tumultuous history on an Indiana farmstead.
Decades have passed since Noah first fell in love with Opal, a brilliant young woman with a penchant for flames. The couple lives together for forty-two idyllic days before Opal, overcome by her fiery inclinations, is obliged to leave. Noah, whose love never wavers over the long years that follow, finds himself forced to rely on her letters, his memories, and the strength of his family to sustain him.
Written in a masterful elegiac style echoing Faulkner and Steinbeck, Indiana, Indiana is a compellingly beautiful and surreal American saga firmly grounded in an Indiana landscape populated by farmers, drifters, sheriffs, and ministers, and overflowing with musical saws, fantastic storytellers, Indian burial mounds, hedge mazes, and appliances rusting in the fields.
Synopsis
A mesmerizing, poignant tale of love and loss in the heart of rural America
About the Author
Novelist Laird Hunt, former United Nations press officer and current faculty member at Naropa University, has lived in Singapore, Tokyo, London, Paris, The Hague, New York, and on an Indiana farm. He is the author of the novel The Impossibly and his writing has appeared both here and abroad in many publications, including Ploughshares, Grand Street, Fence, Conjunctions, Zoum Zoum, and in the anthology 110 Stories: New York Writes after September 11. He and his wife, the poet Eleni Sikelianos, live in Boulder, Colorado.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Laird Hunt