Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
Ratings15
Average rating3.9
A man is booted out of his home after his wife discovers that the sweat-smudged footprint on the inside of his windscreen doesn't match her own. Teenage cousins, drugged by summer, meet with a reckoning in the woods. A boy runs off to the carnival after his stepfather bites him in a brawl. In the stories of Wells Tower, families fall apart and messily, hilariously try to reassemble themselves. His characters - marauding Vikings, washed-up intrepreneurs, and jobbing hacks on local papers - are adrift from the mainstream, confused by contemporary masculinity, angry and aimless. Combining electric prose with compassion and dark wit, this is a major debut.
Tags
Genre
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
Don't judge this book by the cover- that cover art is ridiculous but the stories are great.
I picked this up because David Sedaris recommended it at his reading. Sedaris said he really enjoyed Tower's turns of phrase, and there are some amazing descriptions in here–e.g. a baby pigeon brought in by a cat “was pink, nearly translucent, with magenta cheeks and lavender ovals around the eyes. It looked like a half-cooked eraser with dreams of someday becoming a prostitute.” I mean, WTF, what kind of person comes up with that line? It's perfect.
The stories themselves are sharp and excellently characterized snippets at mostly sad people. Reading them tended to make me feel slightly bad about myself as I connected with their base, selfish instincts.
Related Books
Books
9 booksReaders of This Book Also Enjoyed
If you enjoyed this book, then our algorithm says you may also enjoy these.
