Ducks, Newburyport
Books | Fiction / Literary
4.2
Lucy Ellmann
WINNER OF THE 2019 GOLDSMITHS PRIZE • SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 BOOKER PRIZE • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2019 • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 • A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF 2019 "This book has its face pressed up against the pane of the present; its form mimics the way our minds move now toggling between tabs, between the needs of small children and aging parents, between news of ecological collapse and school shootings while somehow remembering to pay taxes and fold the laundry."—Parul Sehgal, New York Times Baking a multitude of tartes tatins for local restaurants, an Ohio housewife contemplates her four kids, husband, cats and chickens. Also, America's ignoble past, and her own regrets. She is surrounded by dead lakes, fake facts, Open Carry maniacs, and oodles of online advice about survivalism, veil toss duties, and how to be more like Jane Fonda. But what do you do when you keep stepping on your son's toy tractors, your life depends on stolen land and broken treaties, and nobody helps you when you get a flat tire on the interstate, not even the Abominable Snowman? When are you allowed to start swearing? With a torrent of consciousness and an intoxicating coziness, Ducks, Newburyport lays out a whole world for you to tramp around in, by turns frightening and funny. A heart-rending indictment of America's barbarity, and a lament for the way we are blundering into environmental disaster, this book is both heresy―and a revolution in the novel.
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More Details:
Author
Lucy Ellmann
Pages
826
Publisher
Biblioasis
Published Date
2019-08-20
ISBN
1771963085 9781771963084
Community ReviewsSee all
"Honestly, I’m not sure how I made it through this book but I’m glad I did. This book is an extreme stream of consciousness narrative and at times I felt like I was trapped in my own head. It is definitely a masterclass in writing, and I am in awe of how the story formed in such a unique way. This book will not be for everyone so please read a sample before spending money."
Nicole Falche
"After reading a lot of positive reviews, I decided to give Lucy Ellmann a second chance. This time, I listened to the audiobook, superbly narrated by Stephanie Ellyne and it was so much better. Apparently, I lack the ability to read "the fact that" as a filler between thoughts, but when it was read to me it made perfect sense. Somehow the story was much more engaging once I got into the mind of the nameless narrator. My own thoughts were gone; I BECAME the narrator (a self-employed self-censoring twice married Democrat mother of four) when I was listening to this book. The story about the lioness made much more sense too. <br/><br/>If you like reading books for the sake of reading, this book is quite interesting, if only for the fact that there aren't many stream of consciousness books written from a female perspective. <br/><br/>=======================<br/>Original review (October 2020):<br/><br/>I like big books and I cannot lie.... But I gave up at 17% because it was sooooo boring. Like a turkey with bland stuffing. Repetitive and formulaic. The prose wasn't good either. I even tried to read my own edited version where I replaced every "The fact that" with a full stop. It was still boring (like a turkey without bland stuffing). If the merit of a book depends on a linguistic filler, it's not a good book."
Lisa Mallinckrodt
