Halibut on the Moon, David Vann
Halibut on the Moon, David Vann
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Halibut on the Moon

Author: David Vann

Narrator: George Newbern

Unabridged: 6 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/08/2019

Categories: Fiction, Family Life


Synopsis

Middle-aged and deeply depressed, Jim arrives in California from Alaska and surrenders himself to the care of his brother Gary, who intends to watch over him. Swinging unpredictably from manic highs to extreme lows, Jim wanders ghost-like through the remains of his old life attempting to find meaning in his tattered relationships with family and friends. As sessions with his therapist become increasingly combative and his connections to others seem ever more tenuous, Jim is propelled forward by his thoughts, which have the potential to lead him, despairingly, to his end. Halibut on the Moon is a searing exploration of a man held captive by the dark logic of depression and struggling mightily to wrench himself free. In vivid and haunting prose, Vann offers us an aching portrait of a mind in peril, searching desperately for some hope of redemption.

About David Vann

David Vann is an internationally bestselling author whose works have been published in twenty-three languages, won fourteen prizes, and have appeared on eighty-three "Best Books" lists. A former Guggenheim fellow, he is currently a professor at the University of Warwick in England as well as an honorary professor at the University of Franche-Comté in France.


Reviews

I’m not really sure how I feel about this book so I wasn’t really sure what to say about it or how to rate it. It’s not one I can say I enjoyed reading. It’s a heavy read. It’s haunting and uncomfortable and painful to be inside the head of a manic depressive man who wants to end his life. I certain......more

Goodreads review by Mark

Are there any signs in Jim? If he walks past someone on the sidewalk, someone he’s never met, can they tell he’s poison? Halibut on the Moon by David Vann is one of the most riveting books I have read in a while. I couldn’t put the thing down. Jim lives in Alaska. He’s a dentist and lives alone in a r......more

Goodreads review by Esil

3.5 stars Don’t be fooled by the lighthearted sounding title of Halibut on the Moon. There is nothing light about this book. Author David Vann writes a fictionalized account of the last few days of his father’s life. Jim Vann is a bipolar dentist whose life has gone off the rails. Twice divorced, owi......more

Goodreads review by Krista

Imagine its white underside against the white dust and ash and sand or whatever it is on the moon, looking identical, like a mirror image, and that dark topside looking like the moon from farther away, patterns like craters. Dark side of the moon, essentially. The halibut has been waiting for thi......more