We Live in Water
Published on 3. July 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-241-00385-5 (ISBN)
Description
From Jess Walter, the bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins, comes We Live in Water - a darkly funny, utterly compelling collection of stories about the American family.
We Live in Water brings to vivid life a world of lost fathers and redemptive con men, of personal struggles and diminished dreams, a world marked by the wry wit and generosity of spirit that has made Jess Walter one of America's most talked-about writers.
In 'Thief', a blue-collar worker turns unlikely detective to find out which of his kids is stealing from the family vacation fund. In 'We Live in Water', a lawyer returns to a corrupt North Idaho town to find the father who disappeared thirty years earlier. In 'Anything Helps', a homeless man has to 'go to cardboard' to raise enough money to buy his son the new Harry Potter book. In 'Virgo', a local newspaper editor tries to get back at his superstitious ex-girlfriend by screwing with her horoscope. The final story transforms slyly from a portrait of Walter's hometown into a moving contemplation of our times.
'A ridiculously talented writer' The New York Times
'One of my favourite young American writers' Nick Hornby
'Darkly funny, sneakily sad, these stories are very, very good' Publisher's Weekly
'A witty and sobering snapshot of recession-era America' Kirkus
We Live in Water brings to vivid life a world of lost fathers and redemptive con men, of personal struggles and diminished dreams, a world marked by the wry wit and generosity of spirit that has made Jess Walter one of America's most talked-about writers.
In 'Thief', a blue-collar worker turns unlikely detective to find out which of his kids is stealing from the family vacation fund. In 'We Live in Water', a lawyer returns to a corrupt North Idaho town to find the father who disappeared thirty years earlier. In 'Anything Helps', a homeless man has to 'go to cardboard' to raise enough money to buy his son the new Harry Potter book. In 'Virgo', a local newspaper editor tries to get back at his superstitious ex-girlfriend by screwing with her horoscope. The final story transforms slyly from a portrait of Walter's hometown into a moving contemplation of our times.
'A ridiculously talented writer' The New York Times
'One of my favourite young American writers' Nick Hornby
'Darkly funny, sneakily sad, these stories are very, very good' Publisher's Weekly
'A witty and sobering snapshot of recession-era America' Kirkus
Reviews / Votes
These stories are very, very good. If you like to read, you'll like this book * Publishers Weekly * A witty and sobering snapshot of recession-era America * Kirkus Reviews * Wildly entertaining and thought-provoking * Booklist * A genius of the modern American movement * Philadelphia Inquirer * Jess Walter has impressive command of the short story...Since 13 stories should be plenty for a collection, maybe the best compliment we might pay the author is to object that this book is too short -- Lionel Shriver * Financial Times * A more expansive, wittier Raymond Carver * Metro * One for the hols * Sunday Times Style * Clever, original and a little dark * Grazia * There's no sudden resolution, but there's enough wit to help you get through the messy bits * Shortlist * A collection of punchy stories . . . Sold and sold * Esquire *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
203 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-00385-5 (9780241003855)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Jess Walter is the author of six novels, including The Financial Lives of the Poets and The Cold Millions. Beautiful Ruins was a New York Times bestseller, and We Live in Water was one of Barack Obama's books of 2019. Jess Walter lives in Spokane, Washington with his family.