A remarkable collection of stories from a young American writer of huge potential: 'A show-stopping debut, as close to faultless as any writer could wish for’ Los Angeles Times
‘His fingers dug the shell up, he felt the sleek egg of its body, the toothy gap of its aperture. It was the most elegant thing he'd ever held. “That’s a mouse cowry,” the doctor said. “A lovely find. It has brown spots, and darker stripes at its base, like tiger stripes. You can't see it, can you?” But he could. He’d never seen anything so clearly in his life.’
In this assured, exquisite debut, Anthony Doerr takes readers from the African coast to the suburbs of Ohio, from sideshow pageantry to harsh wilderness survival, conjuring nature in both its beautiful abundance and its crushing power. The blind hero of the title story spends his days roaming the beaches of Kenya, his fingers ploughing through sandy granules of grace and intrigue, his German Shepherd at his side. And then there are whale-watchers and fishermen, hunters and mystics, living lives uncompleted or undone, caught, memorably, as they turn toward the reader.
A natural storyteller, Doerr explores the human dilemma in all its manifestations: longing, grief, indecision, heartbreak and slow, slow recuperation. Shimmering with elegance and invention, ‘The Shell Collector’ is an enchanting and imaginative book by a young writer just setting off on what will surely be a hugely compelling literary odyssey.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
'Perilously beautiful, precise and elegant... Doerr can describe a woman running through a Tanzanian forest with the careful specificity of a scientist and the awe of a poet; he can give you a sunrise with the glory-bound colours of apricot and gold, and two pages later you're meeting a young woman in Idaho, who falls in love with the metal-eater at the country fair... Breathtaking.' Boston Globe
'Remarkable... Reminiscent of Annie Proulx's wonderful Close Range and Andrea Barrett's Ship Fever, The Shell Collector illuminates both the riotous dangers of the natural world and the rocky terrain of the human heart, thrusting us into environments we can only hope to control.' LA Times
‘Doerr's prose dazzles, his sinewy sentences blending the naturalist's unswerving gaze with the poet's gift for metaphor. And it does so from the very beginning, opening with such a sensual description of shells that it's almost a shock to discover, a page later, that the character ''seeing'' them is blind.‘ New York Times
'His fingers dug the shell up, he felt the sleek egg of its body, the toothy gap of its aperture. It was the most elegant thing he'd ever held. "That's a mouse cowry," the doctor said. "A lovely find. It has brown spots, and darker stripes at its base, like tiger stripes. You can't see it, can you?" But he could. He'd never seen anything so clearly in his life.’
In this assured, exquisite debut, Anthony Doerr takes readers from the African coast to the suburbs of Ohio, from sideshow pageantry to harsh wilderness survival, conjuring nature in both its beautiful abundance and its crushing power. The blind hero of the title story spends his days roaming the beaches of Kenya, his fingers ploughing through sandy granules of grace and intrigue, his German shepherd at his side. And then there are whale-watchers and fishermen, hunters and mystics, living lives uncompleted or undone, caught, memorably, as they turn toward the reader.
A natural storyteller, Doerr explores the human dilemma in all its manifestations: longing, grief, indecision, heartbreak and slow, slow recuperation. Shimmering with elegance and invention, The Shell Collector is an enchanting and imaginative book by a young writer just setting off on what will surely be a hugely compelling literary odyssey.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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Book Description Hardback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR002627282
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Used; Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books. Seller Inventory # mon0001497565
Book Description Condition: Good. Book is in Used-Good condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. Seller Inventory # 0007146965-2-4
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First UK printing. Light wear to extremities, pages unmarked. Jacket has light edge wear, light scratches to front, in protective plastic, unclipped. Seller Inventory # 002960
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First UK Edition. First impression of the true first UK edition with full number-string sequence including the no. "1" on the publisher's copyright prelims-page: 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2. The author's debut book of short stories, and the first book by the author of "All The Light We Cannot See", winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015 and a finalist for the National Book Award in 2014. ***Near fine in orange cloth-covered boards with white titles to the spine. Tail of spine just very slightly creased. Corners sharp. Boards clean and unmarked. Internally also near fine with no inscriptions. Pages clean. Blue front and rear endpapers. Integral blue satin reading ribbon. Spine tight. ***In a near fine colour-illustrated dustwrapper, that has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of £14.99. No tears. No creases. No fading. Dustwrapper bright. ***219 pages including acknowledgments to rear. 224 mm x 140 mm. ***Short Stories: The Shell Collector; The Hunter's Wife; So Many Chances; For a Long Time This Was Griselda's Story; July Fourth; The Caretaker; A Tangle by the Rapid River; Mkondo. ***'In this assured, exquisite debut, Anthony Doerr takes readers from the African coast to the suburbs of Ohio, from sideshow pageantry to harsh wilderness survival, conjuring nature in both its beautiful abundance and its crushing power. The blind hero of the title story spends his days roaming the beaches of Kenya, his fingers ploughing through sandy granules of grace and intrigue, his German shepherd at his side. And then there are whale-watchers and fishermen, hunters and mystics, living lives uncompleted or undone, caught, memorably, as they turn toward the reader. ***A natural and a scientific storyteller, Doerr explores the human dilemma in all its manifestations: longing, grief, indecision, heartbreak and slow, slow recuperation. Shimmering with elegance and invention, The Shell Collector is an enchanting and imaginative book---' [Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper] ***First impression of the first UK edition of the author's first book, in its original dustwrapper, in very nice bright condition. This collection of short stories won the Barnes and Noble Discover Young Writers Award, and is surprisingly hard to find. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc. Seller Inventory # 7605x