THE SHELL COLLECTOR - Softcover

Doerr

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007146981 ISBN 13: 9780007146987

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2016

Synopsis

The showstopping debut from the author of the #1 Sunday Times bestseller ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE

A blind man spends his days roaming the beaches of Kenya collecting shells, classifying them by feeling their whorls, spines and folds in his fingers. A young woman discovers that she can explore the inner world of an animal’s mind by touching its freshly dead body. A refugee from Liberia, who cannot escape the horrors that he has witnessed, finds salvation in the clandesitne act of burying the hearts of beached whales.

In The Shell Collector Antony Doerr illuminates both the riotous dangers of the natural world and the rocky terrain of the human heart.

About this title

Review:

‘Extraordinary’ Guardian

‘Exquisite’ The Times

‘A show-stopping debut, as close to faultless as any writer could wish for’ L A Times

‘I can think of very few authors who can put together a sentence with such ecstasy, whose words sing with music and such sheer rapture at what they embody’ The Times

‘Doerr’s prose dazzles from the very beginning’ New York Times

‘Unforgettable – not so much a book of short stories as a book of short myths’ Elizabeth Gilbert (author of EAT, PRAY, LOVE)

Synopsis:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0007146981
• ISBN 13: 9780007146987
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224