“This engrossing book’s suspense lies not just in what will happen but in what already has…gracefully pivoting between past and present.” O, The Oprah Magazine
Description
Following on her wonderfully received first novel, Another Place You’ve Never Been, called “mesmerizing,” “powerful,” and “gorgeous,” by critics all over the country, Rebecca Kauffman returns with Mikey Callahan, a thirty-year-old who is suffering from the clouded vision of macular degeneration. He struggles to establish human connections―even his emotional life is a blur.
As the novel begins, he is reconnecting with “the Gunners,” his group of childhood friends, after one of their members has committed suicide. Sally had distanced herself from all of them before ending her life, and she died harboring secrets about the group and its individuals. Mikey especially needs to confront dark secrets about his own past and his father. How much of this darkness accounts for the emotional stupor Mikey is suffering from as he reaches his maturity? And can the Gunners, prompted by Sally’s death, find their way to a new day? The core of this adventure, made by Mikey, Alice, Lynn, Jimmy, and Sam, becomes a search for the core of truth, friendship, and forgiveness.
A quietly startling, beautiful book, The Gunners engages us with vividly unforgettable characters and advances Rebecca Kauffman’s place as one of the most important young writers of her generation.
Praise
“This engrossing book’s suspense lies not just in what will happen but in what already has…gracefully pivoting between past and present.” O, The Oprah Magazine
“Like an intimate hangout session, dashed with suspense and a few extra layers of emotional beauty.” Entertainment Weekly
“The Gunners explores what it means to have people crawl into your heart and settle in for a lifetime. In this lovely, truthful novel…Kauffman strips enduring love of all its usual romantic costumery, and shows us how it actually works.” Martha Woodroof, author of Small Blessings
“A meditation on friendship, that least examined, most mysterious form of love, perhaps more sacred for its incompleteness, for the ways we can never fool ourselves completely into believing we truly know one another.” Rufi Thorpe, author of Dear Fang, with Love
“A little bit like The Big Chill, Kauffman’s quiet and deep second novel reconciles the responsibilities we carry and the secrets we keep with the outsize pleasure of being known and loved by a chosen family.” Booklist
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Mar 19, 2018 |
| Release Date | March 20, 2018 |
| Release Date Machine | 1521504000 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Literary Fiction, Fiction - All, Fiction - Adult, Book Club, Book Club Favorites |
Author Bio
Rebecca Kauffman received her MFA degree in creative writing from New York University. She is the author of several books, including Another Place You’ve Never Been, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.
Narrator Bio
Michael David Axtell is a voice talent and audiobook narrator.
Overview
Following on her wonderfully received first novel, Another Place You’ve Never Been, called “mesmerizing,” “powerful,” and “gorgeous,” by critics all over the country, Rebecca Kauffman returns with Mikey Callahan, a thirty-year-old who is suffering from the clouded vision of macular degeneration. He struggles to establish human connections―even his emotional life is a blur.
As the novel begins, he is reconnecting with “the Gunners,” his group of childhood friends, after one of their members has committed suicide. Sally had distanced herself from all of them before ending her life, and she died harboring secrets about the group and its individuals. Mikey especially needs to confront dark secrets about his own past and his father. How much of this darkness accounts for the emotional stupor Mikey is suffering from as he reaches his maturity? And can the Gunners, prompted by Sally’s death, find their way to a new day? The core of this adventure, made by Mikey, Alice, Lynn, Jimmy, and Sam, becomes a search for the core of truth, friendship, and forgiveness.
A quietly startling, beautiful book, The Gunners engages us with vividly unforgettable characters and advances Rebecca Kauffman’s place as one of the most important young writers of her generation.
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