Overview

"""The reportorial relentlessness of [David] Vann's imagination often makes his fiction seem less written than chiseled. A small, lovely book has been written out of his large and evident pain.""--New York Times Book Review In Legend of a Suicide, his heartbreaking semi-autobiographical debut story-collection, David Vann relates the story of a young man trying to come to terms with the guilt and pain of his father's suicide. The wild outback of the author's native Alaska acts as the ideal backdrop for this collage of six stories--a novella and five shorts--and mirrors the author's own psychological wilderness. From ""an important new voice in American literature"" (Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain) comes an unforgettable exploration of the tragic gaps between one boy and his father."

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9780061875847

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Reviews

A piece of relentless, heartbreaking brilliance that bears comparison with Cormac McCarthy's The Road. --The Weekend Australian

As the title suggests, the stories in Legend of a Suicide approach a private mythos, revisiting, reinvestigating, and reinventing one family's broken past. They also transport us to wild, uncharted places on the Alaskan coast and in the American soul. Throughout, David Vann is a generous, sure-handed guide in some very dangerous territory. -- Stewart O'Nan The characters in these stories are extreme in their isolation from one another, whether they come together in a howling wind or in the comforts of a warm kitchen. Here is suicide, infidelity, madness; here are people whose skewed optimism about the next love affair, the next career, the next homestead, proves deadly. . . . Memory, affection for place, the mangled ways we manage to express the love we feel--David Vann is unafraid of the weight and the complication of these things. He is emboldened in these stories to fall headlong into the disorienting wilderness of the human heart and mind. -- Noy Holland Headlong narrative pacing, a memorable train-wreck father who gives Richard Russo's characters a run for their money, and a sure, sharp, inviting voice. So hard to put down that I am thinking of suing David Vann for several hours of lost sleep. --Lionel Shriver, author of So Much For That and The Post-Birthday World The most powerful, and pure, piece of writing I have read for a very long time. This book squeezes more life out of the first 100 pages than most books could manage in 1,000, which is pretty impressive, considering it's a book about death. --Ross Raisin, author of Out Backward David Vann's dark and strange book twists through natural forces and compressed emotions towards an extraordinary and dreamlike conclusion. One of the most gripping debuts I've ever read. --Philip Hoare, author Leviathan, winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize 'This is my 'One to watch'. . . . It's stunning, beautifully written, with genuine surprises and a complexity which makes you retrace your steps, wonder what really happened and ponder over the whole scenario for days. I loved it. It's Richard Yates, Annie Proulx territory, and highly recommended. --Sarah Broadhurst, The Bookseller (UK) Extraordinary. . . . Reminiscent of Tobias Wolff, Vann's prose is as pure as a gulp of water from an Alaskan stream. --Financial Times With Legend of a Suicide , Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle As primal and unforgiving as the Alaskan wilds where it's set. --Bret Anthony Johnston, Men's Journal The reportorial relentlessness of Vann's imagination often makes his fiction seem less written than chiseled. A small, lovely book has been written out of his large and evident pain.--Tom Bissell, New York Times Book Review The book is as dark, stormy, and beautiful as the ragged Aleutian coast. --National Geographic Adventure In his portrayal of a young son's love for his lost father David Vann has created a stunning work of fiction: surprising, beautiful, and intensely moving. --Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil Brilliant . . . Vann's prose follows the sinews of Cormac McCarthy and Hemingway, yet has its own nimble flex. --The Times (London) His legend is at once the truest memoir and the purest fiction. . . . Nothing quite like this book has been written before. --Alexander Linklater, London Observer The stories in Legend of a Suicide approach a private mythos, revisiting, reinvestigating, and reinventing one family's broken past. They also transport us to wild, uncharted places on the Alaskan coast and in the American soul. Throughout, David Vann is a generous, sure-handed guide in some very dangerous territory. --Stewart O'Nan, author of Songs for the Missing Vengeful yet sorrowing and empathetic, plausible yet dreamlike, and completely absorbing. --Christopher Tayler, The Guardian David Vann's extraordinary and inventive set of fictional variations on his father's death will surely become an American classic. --The Times Literary Supplement (London) A reckoning. . . . A message of profound sympathy and sadness, anger and regret, Legend of a Suicide is the melting away of one man's past and the reshaping of tragedy into art. . . . [It] journeys unflinchingly into darkness. --Greg Schutz, Fiction Writers Review A powerful new voice has emerged in fiction. --Sunday Times (London) The writing in these stories, informed by both the empirical and the lyrical, is heart-wrenching and gorgeous. --Lorrie Moore A truly great writer. --Irish Sunday Independent A piece of relentless, heartbreaking brilliance that bears comparison with Cormac McCarthy's The Road. --The Weekend Australian With Legend of a Suicide, Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle The reportorial relentlessness of Vann s imagination often makes his fiction seem less written than chiseled. A small, lovely book has been written out of his large and evident pain.--Tom Bissell, New York Times Book Review With Legend of a Suicide, Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle The stories in Legend of a Suicide approach a private mythos, revisiting, reinvestigating, and reinventing one family s broken past. They also transport us to wild, uncharted places on the Alaskan coast and in the American soul. Throughout, David Vann is a generous, sure-handed guide in some very dangerous territory. --Stewart O'Nan, author of Songs for the Missing Headlong narrative pacing, a memorable train-wreck father who gives Richard Russo s characters a run for their money, and a sure, sharp, inviting voice. So hard to put down that I am thinking of suing David Vann for several hours of lost sleep. --Lionel Shriver, author of So Much For That and The Post-Birthday World His legend is at once the truest memoir and the purest fiction. . . . Nothing quite like this book has been written before. --Alexander Linklater, London Observer The writing in these stories, informed by both the empirical and the lyrical, is heart-wrenching and gorgeous. --Lorrie Moore Brilliant . . . Vann s prose follows the sinews of Cormac McCarthy and Hemingway, yet has its own nimble flex. --The Times (London) Vengeful yet sorrowing and empathetic, plausible yet dreamlike, and completely absorbing. --Christopher Tayler, The Guardian As primal and unforgiving as the Alaskan wilds where it s set. --Bret Anthony Johnston, Men's Journal David Vann s extraordinary and inventive set of fictional variations on his father s death will surely become an American classic. --The Times Literary Supplement (London) A reckoning. . . . A message of profound sympathy and sadness, anger and regret, Legend of a Suicide is the melting away of one man s past and the reshaping of tragedy into art. . . . [It] journeys unflinchingly into darkness. --Greg Schutz, Fiction Writers Review A powerful new voice has emerged in fiction. --Sunday Times (London) A piece of relentless, heartbreaking brilliance that bears comparison with Cormac McCarthy s The Road. --The Weekend Australian In his portrayal of a young son s love for his lost father David Vann has created a stunning work of fiction: surprising, beautiful, and intensely moving. --Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil The most powerful, and pure, piece of writing I have read for a very long time. This book squeezes more life out of the first 100 pages than most books could manage in 1,000, which is pretty impressive, considering it s a book about death. --Ross Raisin, author of Out Backward This is my One to watch . . . . It s stunning, beautifully written, with genuine surprises and a complexity which makes you retrace your steps, wonder what really happened and ponder over the whole scenario for days. I loved it. It s Richard Yates, Annie Proulx territory, and highly recommended. --Sarah Broadhurst, The Bookseller (UK) David Vann s dark and strange book twists through natural forces and compressed emotions towards an extraordinary and dreamlike conclusion. One of the most gripping debuts I ve ever read. --Philip Hoare, author Leviathan, winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize For the imagery alone and for the sentences, the book would be a treasure. --Colm T?ib?n, London Observer A truly great writer. --Irish Sunday Independent Extraordinary. . . . Reminiscent of Tobias Wolff, Vann s prose is as pure as a gulp of water from an Alaskan stream. --Financial Times The book is as dark, stormy, and beautiful as the ragged Aleutian coast. --National Geographic Adventure For the imagery alone and for the sentences, the book would be a treasure. --Colm Toibin, London Observer With Legend of a Suicide, Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle With Legend of a Suicide, Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle

The characters in these stories are extreme in their isolation from one another, whether they come together in a howling wind or in the comforts of a warm kitchen. Here is suicide, infidelity, madness; here are people whose skewed optimism about the next love affair, the next career, the next homestead, proves deadly. . . . Memory, affection for place, the mangled ways we manage to express the love we feel--David Vann is unafraid of the weight and the complication of these things. He is emboldened in these stories to fall headlong into the disorienting wilderness of the human heart and mind. -- Noy Holland

As the title suggests, the stories in Legend of a Suicide approach a private mythos, revisiting, reinvestigating, and reinventing one family's broken past. They also transport us to wild, uncharted places on the Alaskan coast and in the American soul. Throughout, David Vann is a generous, sure-handed guide in some very dangerous territory. -- Stewart O'Nan The characters in these stories are extreme in their isolation from one another, whether they come together in a howling wind or in the comforts of a warm kitchen. Here is suicide, infidelity, madness; here are people whose skewed optimism about the next love affair, the next career, the next homestead, proves deadly. . . . Memory, affection for place, the mangled ways we manage to express the love we feel--David Vann is unafraid of the weight and the complication of these things. He is emboldened in these stories to fall headlong into the disorienting wilderness of the human heart and mind. -- Noy Holland The most powerful, and pure, piece of writing I have read for a very long time. This book squeezes more life out of the first 100 pages than most books could manage in 1,000, which is pretty impressive, considering it's a book about death. --Ross Raisin, author of Out Backward David Vann's dark and strange book twists through natural forces and compressed emotions towards an extraordinary and dreamlike conclusion. One of the most gripping debuts I've ever read. --Philip Hoare, author Leviathan, winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize 'This is my 'One to watch'. . . . It's stunning, beautifully written, with genuine surprises and a complexity which makes you retrace your steps, wonder what really happened and ponder over the whole scenario for days. I loved it. It's Richard Yates, Annie Proulx territory, and highly recommended. --Sarah Broadhurst, The Bookseller (UK) Extraordinary. . . . Reminiscent of Tobias Wolff, Vann's prose is as pure as a gulp of water from an Alaskan stream. --Financial Times With Legend of a Suicide , Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle Headlong narrative pacing, a memorable train-wreck father who gives Richard Russo's characters a run for their money, and a sure, sharp, inviting voice. So hard to put down that I am thinking of suing David Vann for several hours of lost sleep. --Lionel Shriver, author of So Much For That and The Post-Birthday World As primal and unforgiving as the Alaskan wilds where it's set. --Bret Anthony Johnston, Men's Journal The reportorial relentlessness of Vann's imagination often makes his fiction seem less written than chiseled. A small, lovely book has been written out of his large and evident pain.--Tom Bissell, New York Times Book Review The book is as dark, stormy, and beautiful as the ragged Aleutian coast. --National Geographic Adventure In his portrayal of a young son's love for his lost father David Vann has created a stunning work of fiction: surprising, beautiful, and intensely moving. --Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil Brilliant . . . Vann's prose follows the sinews of Cormac McCarthy and Hemingway, yet has its own nimble flex. --The Times (London) His legend is at once the truest memoir and the purest fiction. . . . Nothing quite like this book has been written before. --Alexander Linklater, London Observer The stories in Legend of a Suicide approach a private mythos, revisiting, reinvestigating, and reinventing one family's broken past. They also transport us to wild, uncharted places on the Alaskan coast and in the American soul. Throughout, David Vann is a generous, sure-handed guide in some very dangerous territory. --Stewart O'Nan, author of Songs for the Missing Vengeful yet sorrowing and empathetic, plausible yet dreamlike, and completely absorbing. --Christopher Tayler, The Guardian David Vann's extraordinary and inventive set of fictional variations on his father's death will surely become an American classic. --The Times Literary Supplement (London) A reckoning. . . . A message of profound sympathy and sadness, anger and regret, Legend of a Suicide is the melting away of one man's past and the reshaping of tragedy into art. . . . [It] journeys unflinchingly into darkness. --Greg Schutz, Fiction Writers Review A powerful new voice has emerged in fiction. --Sunday Times (London) The writing in these stories, informed by both the empirical and the lyrical, is heart-wrenching and gorgeous. --Lorrie Moore A truly great writer. --Irish Sunday Independent A piece of relentless, heartbreaking brilliance that bears comparison with Cormac McCarthy's The Road. --The Weekend Australian With Legend of a Suicide, Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle The reportorial relentlessness of Vann s imagination often makes his fiction seem less written than chiseled. A small, lovely book has been written out of his large and evident pain.--Tom Bissell, New York Times Book Review With Legend of a Suicide, Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle The stories in Legend of a Suicide approach a private mythos, revisiting, reinvestigating, and reinventing one family s broken past. They also transport us to wild, uncharted places on the Alaskan coast and in the American soul. Throughout, David Vann is a generous, sure-handed guide in some very dangerous territory. --Stewart O'Nan, author of Songs for the Missing Headlong narrative pacing, a memorable train-wreck father who gives Richard Russo s characters a run for their money, and a sure, sharp, inviting voice. So hard to put down that I am thinking of suing David Vann for several hours of lost sleep. --Lionel Shriver, author of So Much For That and The Post-Birthday World His legend is at once the truest memoir and the purest fiction. . . . Nothing quite like this book has been written before. --Alexander Linklater, London Observer The writing in these stories, informed by both the empirical and the lyrical, is heart-wrenching and gorgeous. --Lorrie Moore Brilliant . . . Vann s prose follows the sinews of Cormac McCarthy and Hemingway, yet has its own nimble flex. --The Times (London) Vengeful yet sorrowing and empathetic, plausible yet dreamlike, and completely absorbing. --Christopher Tayler, The Guardian As primal and unforgiving as the Alaskan wilds where it s set. --Bret Anthony Johnston, Men's Journal David Vann s extraordinary and inventive set of fictional variations on his father s death will surely become an American classic. --The Times Literary Supplement (London) A reckoning. . . . A message of profound sympathy and sadness, anger and regret, Legend of a Suicide is the melting away of one man s past and the reshaping of tragedy into art. . . . [It] journeys unflinchingly into darkness. --Greg Schutz, Fiction Writers Review A powerful new voice has emerged in fiction. --Sunday Times (London) A piece of relentless, heartbreaking brilliance that bears comparison with Cormac McCarthy s The Road. --The Weekend Australian In his portrayal of a young son s love for his lost father David Vann has created a stunning work of fiction: surprising, beautiful, and intensely moving. --Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil The most powerful, and pure, piece of writing I have read for a very long time. This book squeezes more life out of the first 100 pages than most books could manage in 1,000, which is pretty impressive, considering it s a book about death. --Ross Raisin, author of Out Backward This is my One to watch . . . . It s stunning, beautifully written, with genuine surprises and a complexity which makes you retrace your steps, wonder what really happened and ponder over the whole scenario for days. I loved it. It s Richard Yates, Annie Proulx territory, and highly recommended. --Sarah Broadhurst, The Bookseller (UK) David Vann s dark and strange book twists through natural forces and compressed emotions towards an extraordinary and dreamlike conclusion. One of the most gripping debuts I ve ever read. --Philip Hoare, author Leviathan, winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize For the imagery alone and for the sentences, the book would be a treasure. --Colm T?ib?n, London Observer A truly great writer. --Irish Sunday Independent Extraordinary. . . . Reminiscent of Tobias Wolff, Vann s prose is as pure as a gulp of water from an Alaskan stream. --Financial Times The book is as dark, stormy, and beautiful as the ragged Aleutian coast. --National Geographic Adventure For the imagery alone and for the sentences, the book would be a treasure. --Colm Toibin, London Observer With Legend of a Suicide, Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle With Legend of a Suicide, Vann looks into the dark and isolated heart of the American soul. It is a devastating journey that is difficult to read but impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget. --June Sawyers, San Francisco Chronicle

Author Information

Published in twenty languages, David Vann's internationally bestselling books have won fifteen prizes, including best foreign novel in France and Spain, and have appeared on seventy-five Best Books of the Year lists in a dozen countries. He's written for the New York Times, Atlantic, Esquire, Outside, Sunset, Men's Journal, McSweeney's, and many other publications, and he has been a Guggenheim, Stegner, and NEA fellow.

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