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Simon and Schuster
April 2016
On Sale: April 5, 2016
290 pages
ISBN: 1476778043
EAN: 9781476778044
Kindle: B00LD1ONEY
Paperback / e-Book (reprint)
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Other Editions
Hardcover (April 2015)
Literature and Fiction
“Complex and haunting…vivid and unforgettable”
(People), this story of one injured but indefatigable
young woman is a stunning portrait of a family, a
generation, and a country all coming of age.
From a
quiet family farm in Montana in the 60s to the grit and haze
of San Francisco in the 70s to a gypsy-populated, post-war
Saigon, The Given World spins around its
unconventional and unforgettable heroine, Riley. When her
big brother is declared MIA in Vietnam, young Riley packs up
her shattered heart and leaves her family, her first love,
and “a few small things” behind. By trial and error she
builds a new life, working on cars, delivering newspapers,
tending bar. She befriends, rescues, and is rescued by a
similarly vagabond cast of characters whose “‘unraveled
souls’ sting hardest and linger the longest” (The New
York Times Book Review). Foolhardy, funny, and wise,
Riley’s challenge as she grows into a woman is simple:
survive long enough to go home again, or at least figure out
where home is, and who might be among the living there.
Lorrie Moore said, “It’s been a long time since a first
book contained this much wisdom and knowledge of the world.”
The Given World is “an immensely rewarding and
remarkable debut” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
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