Man Overboard!
A Novel
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- 18,99 €
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- 18,99 €
Publisher Description
"Unexpected and heartwarming." —The New York Times, Summer’s Best Beach Reads
"Funny, sad, playful, and, by the end, simply resonant." —Daniel Kraus, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Whalefall and Angel Down
From the nationally bestselling author of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, comes a funny and moving novel in which a former college swimmer falls off a cruise ship and must keep treading water as memories and regrets wash over him—perfect for fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette; Florence Adler Swims Forever; and The Wedding People.
"Man Overboard! is destined to be the best book of the summer." —Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The View from Lake Como
Patrick “Kick” Kilpatrick hates the ocean. Has always been terrified of it. And now he’s in a real pickle.
Drifting alone in the sea after falling (or jumping? He can’t remember as the all-inclusive drinks on the cruise he was taking with his extended family were, well, inclusive) Kick must survive. Breath by breath, hour by hour in the lonely sea.
As the waves crash over him, so too do the thoughts and memories of just how he got there. A Thanksgiving cruise with an obnoxious brother-in-law he has to bite his tongue to keep from screaming at. A father who gives the Great Santini a run for his money. And a mother who already left the family boat, so to speak, a long time ago. His family may be complicated, and the pains of life may seem unbearable—infuriating enough to leap from the deck—but maybe the will to survive is stronger.
Man Overboard! is an inventive, slyly hilarious, and inspiring novel about what it means to be alive and stay alive, and what keeps us going no matter how choppy the waves of our journey become. Hold on for dear life!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This jaunty work of surrealism from Rooney (Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk) starts with a splash, when a 33-year-old man finds himself in the Gulf of Mexico. A moment ago, Patrick "Kick" Kilpatrick, a physical therapist and former champion swimmer, was aboard a Carnival cruise ship with his family. It's after midnight, he'd spent the earlier part of the evening drinking, and he's not sure whether he fell or jumped. As the hours pass and he keeps treading water, he looks back over his life, paying particular attention to his mother, who almost died from cancer when he was 11, then abandoned the family not long after going into remission. She was soon replaced by his stepmom, the "cheerful albeit leathery Floridian angel" who organized the cruise. He also thinks about his "sort-of girlfriend," who is growing justifiably tired of him. "Within the next hour, somebody's going to rescue me," he reassures himself repeatedly, but the hours keep ticking by. As they do, he encounters various sea creatures, including a whale shark who remarks, "Wow, men really will do literally anything instead of going to therapy." Aside from the strange encounters with marine life, there aren't many surprises. Still, readers willing to go along for the ride will be entertained by Kick's psychological journey and Rooney's snappy humor. It's a hoot.
