Staff Pick
I haven't enjoyed a book this much in so long! Set in a tiny coastal Oregon town, this story is populated with characters who seem to leap off the page and speak their lines into your ear. They are that real. Brian Doyle breaks all the so-called "rules" of good writing, yet this book is rich and layered and beautiful and profound. Riotous and complex, Doyle's lush tale compels you to read faster than you'd like, because you can't stand not knowing just what the heck is going to happen next. Every sentence is a tiny jewel you want to roll around on your tongue and slowly savor. Quirky, unique, and delightful, the tale of Neawanaka gets under your skin and lives inside you. Go read it! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
In a small fictional town on the Oregon coast there are love affairs and almost-love-affairs, mystery and hilarity, bears and tears, brawls and boats, a garrulous logger and a silent doctor, rain and pain, Irish immigrants and Salish stories, mud and laughter. There's a Department of Public Works that gives haircuts and counts insects, a policeman who is addicted to Puccini, a philosophizing crow, beer, and berries. An expedition is mounted, a crime is committed, and there's an unbelievably huge picnic on the football field. Babies are born. A car is cut in half with a saw. A river confesses what it's thinking . . .
This is the tale of a town, written in a distinct and lyrical voice, and when the book ends, listeners will be more than a little sad to leave the village of Neawanaka, on the wet coast of Oregon, beneath the hills that used to boast the biggest trees in the history of the world.
Review
"Doyle writes with an inventive and seductive style that echoes that of ancient storytellers." ---Library Journal Starred Review
Synopsis
Like Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood and Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, Brian Doyle's stunning fiction debut brings a town to life through the jumbled lives and braided stories of its people.
About the Author
Brian Doyle is the author of The Plover, Grace Notes, Cat's Foot, and many other books. His work has appeared in the annual Best American Essays, Best American Science and Nature Writing, and Best American Spiritual Writing anthologies. His many honors include three Pushcart Prizes and Foreword Reviews's Book of the Year Award.David Drummond has been narrating audiobooks for a few years now and hopes one of these days to get it right. He much prefers dead authors and live audiences.
Exclusive Essay
Read exclusive essays by Brian Doyle from 2010 and 2014