Overview

When a car explodes in a crowded part of Kabul ten years after 9/11, a Japanese-American journalist is shocked to discover that the passengers were acquaintances--three fellow ex-pats who had formed an unlikely love triangle. Alexandra was a human rights lawyer for imprisoned Afghan women. Justin was a born-again Christian who taught at a local school. Clay was an ex-soldier who worked as a private contractor. The car's driver, Idris, was one of Justin's most promising pupils--and he is missing. Drawn to the secrets of these strangers, and increasingly convinced the events that led to the fatal explosion weren't random, the journalist follows a trail that leads from Kabul to Louisiana, Maine, Québec, and Dubai. In the process, the tortured narratives of these individuals become inseparable from the larger story of America's imperial misadventures. In this monumental novel, Deni Ellis Béchard draws an unsentimental portrait of those who flock to warzones, indelibly capturing these journalists, mercenaries, idealists, and aid workers. More importantly, Béchard vividly brings to life the city of Kabul itself, along with the people who live there: the hungry, determined, and resourceful locals who are just as willing as their occupiers to reinvent themselves to survive.

Full Product Details

9781571311146

Table of Contents

Reviews

Praise for Into the Sun Deni Ellis Bechard's Into the Sun is an ambitious novel that succeeds on all levels. It's a riveting mystery-thriller that also probes deeper into the nature of war and the ways in which it attracts and transforms some people. Into the Sun has the propulsive force of a car bomb in the bloodstream, quickening the reader's pulse at every turn, right up to the very last page. David Abrams, author of Fobbit Into the Sun is a story of haunting beauty rendered from the legacy of the war in Afghanistan. In scope and skill, Bechard's portrait of those who are both drawn to and entangled by conflict is reminiscent of the best works of Graham Greene and Philip Caputo. This novel is a fitting paean to the wrecked souls of an endless war Elliot Ackerman, author of Green on Blue Into the Sun is ambitious, elegant and filled with a kind of ferocious intelligence. Bechard explores the culture of the war zone, creating a compelling picture of that dark and turbulent place. Roxana Robinson, author of Sparta We wake from this book as witnesses to Kabul, to America and to the crimes of men who need destruction to find definition and women desperate to understand. Bechard is channeling Melville and Conrad, their oceans and rivers replaced with dust and smoke. There are sentences on these pages that will be quoted in universities and taped to newsroom desks for a century. Benjamin Busch, author of Dust to Dust Into the Sun is one of the finest novels I've read in years, an unrelenting and daring masterpiece about war, the quest for understanding after tragedy, and the power of human yearning for connection. Deni Ellis Bechard has delivered a vital book that will change the way you see the world. Jesse Goolsby, author of I'd Walk with My Friends If I Could Find Them Selected praise for Deni Ellis Bechard Bechard is the rare writer who knows the secret to telling the true story. Marlon James A strange and beautiful first novel. . . . A sculpted artifact, built sentence by luminous, surprising sentence. Minneapolis Star Tribune A novel you ll want to read slowly, savoring prose that s both lyrical and gritty, able to evoke big emotions with exquisite intimacy. O, The Oprah Magazine Though Bechard ( Cures for Hunger, a memoir) has a journalism background, this fiction debut, unfolding in punchy prose, recalls Marquez with a French-Canadian twist. Publishers Weekly (starred review) This is an enormously impressive debut by a clearly gifted writer. Robert Olen Butler Reminiscent of Proulx and Doctorow in both sweep and grace of prose, it is hard to believe that Vandal Love, so elegant and accomplished, is only Bechard s first novel. Dagoberto Gilb Bechard s surety of voice and confident narrative span declare a first rate novel and an eloquent debut. Commonwealth Prize Judging Panel, 2007 Bechard s manic imagination contains echoes of the magic realism of the South American master Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Winnipeg Free Press Vandal Love seems like a trans-generational On the Road, which, also infused with a kind of inherited defeatism, was the perfect Americanized expression of an unexamined Existentialism, the ultimate Beat utterance. The Globe and Mail A young writer needs luck to have this kind of material at hand and guts to pursue it. . . . It has the feel of a novel that s been a lifetime in the making. Montreal Gazette Although Vandal Love is a first novel, it reads as smoothly as if [Bechard] had a library to his namemature, lyrical, tactile and at times simple, cruel and sweet. . . . No doubt, the giant steps this young writer has taken will set him far ahead on his literary path. Calgary Herald One part Jack Kerouac, one part William Faulkner. The Hour Journalist Bechard, a foreign correspondent familiar with war zones, probes beneath headlines describing the Congo as 'a country of such inhumanity that we find it incomprehensible' and finds another, more hopeful reality. . . . Bechard's adventurous travels in the Congo offer spice to this rich, complex account. Kirkus Reviews Bechard s masterful, adventure-driven reporting delivers an inspiring account. Carl Hays, Booklist Empty Hands, Open Arms is the embodiment of the type of reporting that we dream of reading, but all too rarely encounterintelligent, engaged, and above all, astonishingly perceptive. Dinaw Mengestu

Praise for Into the Sun Into the Sun is a ferociously intelligent and intensely gripping portrait of the expatriate community in Kabul--the idealists, mercenaries, aid workers, and journalists circling around a war offering them promises of purpose, redemption, or cash, while the local Afghans in their orbit negotiate the ever-changing and ever-dangerous politics of the latter stages of the American war in Afghanistan. Brilliant. --Phil Klay, National Book Award-winning author of Redeployment Deni Ellis Bechard's Into the Sun is an ambitious novel that succeeds on all levels. It's a riveting mystery-thriller that also probes deeper into the nature of war and the ways in which it attracts and transforms some people. Into the Sun has the propulsive force of a car bomb in the bloodstream, quickening the reader's pulse at every turn, right up to the very last page. --David Abrams, author of Fobbit Into the Sun is the sort of book I'm always hungry for ? the serious novel in which the guns literally go off. B chard makes me think of Graham Greene and Robert Stone, which is heady company, indeed. --Richard Ford Into the Sun is a story of haunting beauty rendered from the legacy of the war in Afghanistan. In scope and skill, B chard's portrait of those who are both drawn to and entangled by conflict is reminiscent of the best works of Graham Greene and Philip Caputo. This novel is a fitting paean to the wrecked souls of an endless war --Elliot Ackerman, author of Green on Blue Into the Sun is ambitious, elegant and filled with a kind of ferocious intelligence. B chard explores the culture of the war zone, creating a compelling picture of that dark and turbulent place. --Roxana Robinson, author of Sparta We wake from this book as witnesses to Kabul, to America and to the crimes of men who need destruction to find definition and women desperate to understand. B chard is channeling Melville and Conrad, their oceans and rivers replaced with dust and smoke. There are sentences on these pages that will be quoted in universities and taped to newsroom desks for a century. --Benjamin Busch, author of Dust to Dust Into the Sun is one of the finest novels I've read in years, an unrelenting and daring masterpiece about war, the quest for understanding after tragedy, and the power of human yearning for connection. Deni Ellis Bechard has delivered a vital book that will change the way you see the world. --Jesse Goolsby, author of I'd Walk with My Friends If I Could Find Them An ambitious and nuanced story about a small group of friends in Kabul in the wake of 9/11. . . . Into the Sun is an insightful and affecting look into the lives of those who risk everything to help the people of Afghanistan and tell their stories. --Kirkus Interweaving elements of combat journalism with mystery fiction in this riveting tale, B chard's multilayered plot draws a vivid and timely portrait of contemporary, war-torn Afghanistan. --Booklist Into The Sun is by turns a searing, moving, and tense examination of the expatriate community in the aftermath of war. In tight, evocative prose, B chard draws readers into a fiery narrative replete with characters seeking connection and salvation. --Consequence B chard is the rare writer who knows the secret to telling the true story. --Marlon James

Selected praise for Deni Ellis Bechard Bechard is the rare writer who knows the secret to telling the true story. Marlon James A strange and beautiful first novel. . . . A sculpted artifact, built sentence by luminous, surprising sentence. Minneapolis Star Tribune A novel you ll want to read slowly, savoring prose that s both lyrical and gritty, able to evoke big emotions with exquisite intimacy. O, The Oprah Magazine Though Bechard ( Cures for Hunger, a memoir) has a journalism background, this fiction debut, unfolding in punchy prose, recalls Marquez with a French-Canadian twist. Publishers Weekly (starred review) This is an enormously impressive debut by a clearly gifted writer. Robert Olen Butler Reminiscent of Proulx and Doctorow in both sweep and grace of prose, it is hard to believe that Vandal Love, so elegant and accomplished, is only Bechard s first novel. Dagoberto Gilb Bechard s surety of voice and confident narrative span declare a first rate novel and an eloquent debut. Commonwealth Prize Judging Panel, 2007 Bechard s manic imagination contains echoes of the magic realism of the South American master Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Winnipeg Free Press Vandal Love seems like a trans-generational On the Road, which, also infused with a kind of inherited defeatism, was the perfect Americanized expression of an unexamined Existentialism, the ultimate Beat utterance. The Globe and Mail A young writer needs luck to have this kind of material at hand and guts to pursue it. . . . It has the feel of a novel that s been a lifetime in the making. Montreal Gazette Although Vandal Love is a first novel, it reads as smoothly as if [Bechard] had a library to his namemature, lyrical, tactile and at times simple, cruel and sweet. . . . No doubt, the giant steps this young writer has taken will set him far ahead on his literary path. Calgary Herald One part Jack Kerouac, one part William Faulkner. The Hour Journalist Bechard, a foreign correspondent familiar with war zones, probes beneath headlines describing the Congo as 'a country of such inhumanity that we find it incomprehensible' and finds another, more hopeful reality. . . . Bechard's adventurous travels in the Congo offer spice to this rich, complex account. Kirkus Reviews Bechard s masterful, adventure-driven reporting delivers an inspiring account. Carl Hays, Booklist Empty Hands, Open Arms is the embodiment of the type of reporting that we dream of reading, but all too rarely encounterintelligent, engaged, and above all, astonishingly perceptive. Dinaw Mengestu

Author Information

Deni Ellis Béchard is the author of the novel Vandal Love, and Cures for Hunger, a memoir. His work has appeared in the LA Times, Salon, and Foreign Policy, and he has reported from Afghanistan, India, Rwanda, and Iraq.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available